THE Islamic Republic of Iran, as its name suggests, has been a curious amalgam of people-power and theocracy from the start. For most of its 37 years clerics have firmly dominated. But as its revolutionaries age and a new generation of leaders courts a warm relationship with the West, the theologians seem to be growing fearful about where the country’s elected politicians are leading it. In the run-up to parliamentary elections, scheduled for February 26th, they have clamped down more harshly than ever on candidates.

Were the vote a straight test of Hassan Rohani’s popularity, his allies would surely win. The moderate president secured a deal with world powers last month that set aside the long crisis over his country’s nuclear programme. Crushing economic sanctions have been lifted. Iran has gained access to tens of billions of dollars of assets previously frozen overseas. Oil exports have resumed and a $27 billion contract with Airbus for 118 planes, signed when Mr Rohani visited the French president, François Hollande, at the Élysée Palace, has provided a glimpse of the potential riches on offer to a nation long isolated. Yet voters, and their representatives, also have to contend with the ruling clergy.

The Council of Guardians, a constitutional watchdog of backers of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, that vets contenders for their supposed loyalty, disqualified about 60% of the 12,000 people who came forward as parliamentary candidates, about twice the rate of previous elections. Roughly a quarter of those kicked off the list won appeals but, even so, half of those who had wanted to stand for office were prevented from doing so.

Nor were the Guardians even-handed. Reformists were hit hardest. In the first cut only 30 of about 3,000 were approved, leaving large parts of the country without even a single reformist candidate. “They want an Islamic Re- without the public,” quipped one observer.

The stacked vote means that Mr Rohani may have to stomach a parliament that will continue to resist his social and political programme. For almost three years he has contended with conservatives who have bridled at his outreach to the West, even impeaching one of his ministers, and have stymied his economic, political and cultural initiatives.

That said, the popular Mr Rohani is not yet finished. Iran’s naysayers look more rudderless than its reformists. Pragmatic conservatives know that without finance from the West the Islamic republic could collapse. Iran aspires to be a bubbly BRIC economy, but growth was sluggish last year. The government is saddled with debt, and with a crashing oil price and weak production (down from 5.8m bpd in 1978 to 2.8m today), its budget deficit is around 2.2% of GDP and growing. Prominent conservatives, including Ali Larijani, the speaker of parliament, have promised to support some of Mr Rohani’s economic policies. “The parliament should legislate to remove obstacles to raising production and improve the business climate,” Mr Larijani told an economic conference in Qom, the country’s religious centre, on February 14th. A large number of independent candidates might sidle up to Mr Rohani, anxious to secure the funding his government dispenses. “While a pro-Rohani parliament looks in doubt, he should at least hope for one he can work with,” says a veteran Iran hand.