happens again. they don t want a reform candidate to win, and they certainly do not want to see the kind of mess that happened after the last election, which was broadcast around the world when people were, as i say, brutally repressed, people were killed, people were imprisoned, indeed many bloggers and journalists are in prison right now ahead of the elections, so there isn t the same kind of expression as there was last time. and of course, the man ultimately in charge of that the ayatollah. we just heard reza profiling him. there s only been two supreme leaders since the revolution. obviously he s older. what would happen if there were a transition? well, look, he is in power until he dies. that is the way of the constitution and of the religious theocracy there. so he stays where he is until he dies. but what is going on right now, according to many analysts is
reporter: there s been all sorts of rumors throughout the years, erin, about his health, that he s sick, that he has cancer, but he s been motoring along and he appears healthy when he makes public appearances. he looks healthy, energetic. his aides says he exercises, hikes often, but he is getting up in age. he is 73 years old. it s possible the next president who is elected, especially if he serves eight years, could be in power when the supreme leader passes. many say that s going to be a critical transition, maybe the most critical in the history of the islamic republic, erin? certainly seems like that will be the most important one. as reza says, the people running for president right now won t be able to change the nuclear program, but if they re in power when the ayatollah changes, that could be the most important
at home, and abroad. during his reign, he has defied washington and the west demand for iran to stop its controversial nuclear program. at home, rights groups say his regime has jailed thousands of dissidents, journalists and activists, many during the 2009 opposition uprising, sparked by two reformist candidates, who are now under house arrest. it s no wonder, analysts say, this time around, not a single bona fide reformist was allowed to run for the presidency. above all, he wants someone who is going to be subservient to him. reporter: if history is any indication what the supreme leader wants, he usually gets. and reza, it s amazing, the focus on the supreme leader, to some of the people on the street, especially the more
washington and the west demand for iran to stop its controversial nuclear program. at home, rights groups say his regime has jailed thousands of dissidents, journalists and activists, many during the 2009 opposition uprising, sparked by two reformist candidates, who are now under house arrest. it s no wonder, analysts say, this time around, not a single bona fide reformist was allowed to run for the presidency. above all, he wants someone who is going to be subservient to him. reporter: if history is any indication what the supreme leader wants, he usually gets. and reza, it s amazing, the focus on the supreme leader, to some of the people on the street, especially the more conservative one who invoked his name when they talk about this election. obviously, he s getting older. how is his health?
will be the most important one. as reza says, the people running for president right now won t be able to change the nuclear program, but if they re in power when the ayatollah changes, that could be the most important thing that has happened here. thank you very much to reza. christiane amanpour joins me now. of course, she s iranian by birth and has covered every election in this country since 1995. christiane, when you look at the elections that you ve covered, what makes this one different for you? the two that stick out in my mind, 1997, is when muhammad mahatma was elected. we covered that. that was an enormous surprise, both internally in iran and around the world. and for eight years of his presidency, there was a real change in iran and with iran s relations with the rest of the world. then i covered the 2009 election, which was when ahmadinejad was going for reelection. that, as we all know, resulted in the green movement, resulted in people saying that the