Reza Profiling Him News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> 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? >> certai...

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 cover...

Results were flawed. it was a huge movement brutally repressed. and now what we're seeing is an attempt by the iranian authorities to make sure that nothing like either one of those 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 ...

The central character, the most important character is not actually running for office. that is the country's supreme leader ayatollah howmaini. he has more sway in this country than any of the nominees. reza, the ayatollah, i saw one woman she had basically a necklace around her neck with the two supreme leaders since the revolution saying vote for them. the supreme leader is so central to this election. how much sway does he have over it? >> reporter: he's got a lot of sway. iranians are going to be voting for a president tomorrow, but looming very large over this entire process is the supre...

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 movered 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 c...