Iranians head to the polls on Friday to elect a new president. The fact that the Islamic Republic holds elections leads some diplomats to deem it a democracy. It is not. Because the unelected Guardian Council winnowed down more than 95% of the field to eliminate those insufficiently loyal to the revolution, the result is analogous to if the Soviet Union held elections, but only Central Committee members of the Communist Party could run.

Four candidates remain in the running. Like clockwork, pundits and the press deem some reformists. This embrace of Iranian reformism is part mirror imaging and part wishful thinking. The implication of the reformist myth is that those labeled reformers truly want democracy, respect human rights, or share liberal values.