I am not a monarchist by instinct, nor am I a republican absolutist. As many know, I am openly supportive of New Zealand becoming a republic, on the grounds that our constitutional arrangements should reflect our own democratic maturity and national identity. That position, however, does not require me to believe that monarchy is always and everywhere a bad idea. Constitutional arrangements are tools, not moral absolutes, and their value depends entirely on the historical, cultural, and political context in which they are applied. This is not the case in Iran, where monarchy was the product of thousands of years of history.