Iranian Election and Government Structure

[Schneed10]

It matters to Iranians because the President has the role of upholding their constitution which affects internal matters, but does it matter to the United States? Not really all that much. The Supreme Leader is in charge of all military decisions, so if Iran were to attack Israel or something that would be the Ayatollah's decision, not Ahmenijad's.

Ahmenijad is a public face and he goes out publicly threatening Israel, but in the end his opinion is only monitored to the extent that it reflects the opinion of the Ayatollah.

If the Ayatollah were the one coming out saying that Israel should be wiped off the face of the Earth, I'd be a lot more concerned.