Thank you, Madam.
The power structure in Iran is extremely complex and I believe there is no other like it in the world. Briefly, within this structure, some officials are elected, while others are not. Elected officials share some powers, while unelected officials hold most of the power. It varies, depending on the individual personalities.
As far as electing a new president goes, if Moussavi were elected, the first thing we would see is a change of tone, something that I feel is quite important. Ahmadinejad's belligerent discourse on Israel, the Holocaust and other topics which has caused Iran tremendous harm on the international stage will be silenced. Moreover, this fact has not escaped the attention of other officials, including Khamenei.
We observed this during the eight years of Khatami's presidency. If you look at the position taken by Khamenei during this period of time, you will see marked differences in the views expressed before and after this period. In other words, despite the authority conferred upon him by the Constitution, Khamenei does not want to, or simply cannot say no to the elected president.
However, I do not expect to witness a total upheaval in the case of existing institutions, quite simply because that process takes time. For that reason, I stressed the fact that the Revolution lasted three decades.
Existing institutions are, however, in the process of adapting. Let me give you one example. The head of radio and television services, who is appointed by the Leader, decided to give Ahmadinejad 45 minutes of air time to respond to the accusations of other candidates. Because of street demonstrations and the denunciations of the other candidates, these 45 minutes of air time were reduced to 20 minutes, a rare occurrence in post-revolutionary Iran. The reason was that the Guardian Council, the members of which are not elected but who screen the candidates, was opposed to granting Ahmadinejad even one minute of air time. Yet, many people in Iran believe that the Council is responsible for putting Ahmadinejad in power. So then, it is possible for civil society to exert some pressure.
The country's institutions are admittedly weak. In some cases, these institutions are also vulnerable. As I see it, the people in charge of these institutions are also vulnerable. Therefore, it is a matter of finding a way to use the popular vote to advance the cause of human rights and civil society.