TEHRAN, Iran -- On the way down from Tehran's main ski hill a few days ago I hitched a ride with two 22-year old university students and asked them whether they were planning to vote in the coming elections. "What elections?" they asked. Then, after they had phoned a friend to confirm that a nationwide vote is indeed to take place on Dec. 15, they said the same thing I have heard from almost every Iranian I have spoken to over the past month, from millionaires and pop stars to pastoralists and kebab sellers: Of course we won't vote, we're sick of politics. The turnout later this week will not be strong by Iranian standards, and the body being chosen -- the Assembly of Experts, composed of 86 Shia clerics -- is a typically incestuous component of Iran's "closed loop" constitutional setup. Nonetheless the new assembly will be very meaningful for Iran and the world, for a battle-royal is going on within this country's political elite.
Now is Not the Time to Reward Iran’s Hardliners
