the impact to be more stylistic and rhetorical than substantial.

Generally speaking, a presidential election in Iran is more likely to shape the domestic agenda rather than the foreign one, because the fundementalist vs Reformist divide that shapes Iran's election campaigns is more relevant to internal politics.

When it comes to foreign policy, the Iranian president only serves as the second in command to Khamenei, who is the actual head of state and commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Iran's presidential election

Iran's national security, and by extension its foreign policy, lie within the authority of the supreme leader and the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), which works according to his guidelines.

THE TWO SIDES OF IRAN'S POLITICAL SPECTRUM: - The conservative fundementalist establishment, whichcontrols most of Iran's economic might through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp's commercial enterprises and the vast financial resources of the religious endowments. Candidates: Ebrahim Raisi, Mostafa Mirsalim The Reformist bloc, which prefers political, economic and social liberalisation and an opening up of Iran to foreign investment.

Candidates: Hassan Rouhani, Mostafa Hashemitaba, Eshaq Jahangiri

The SNSC was formed under a revision that was spearheaded by Khamenei in 1989 - the very same year he became the country's supreme leader.

While the president presides over the SNSC's dozen or so members and selects its secretary, any decision by the council must be approved by the supreme leader to go into effect.

Once the decision is approved, the president has considerable influence over its implementation - but mostly in the diplomatic sphere.

However, when it