Can Iran's Khamenei rule out ‘national reconciliation’?

In a speech Feb. 15, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directly addressed the idea of "national reconciliation" brought forward by Reformists over the past weeks.

“Some people talk about national reconciliation; however, that does not make sense to me,” he said. “The people are already united. So why do you talk about reconciliation? Are the people against each other?” This has been a recurring theme in Iran since the contested 2009 presidential election and subsequent protests. Regardless of whether Khamenei opposes national reconciliation, recent history illustrates why he cannot resist some form of it — if he wants Iran to prosper — and the key obstacles that remain to its implementation.

Khamenei did indeed make his skepticism clear. “Are people not on talking terms with one another to need reconciliation? There is no estrangement,” he said during his speech. Probe a bit further, however, and a more comprehensive picture of what he is grappling with starts to emerge. Khamenei is the most powerful man in Iran, and while he does help shape the political process, he is also forced to respond to it. Politics do not remain stagnant and policy options are finite, thereby forcing Khamenei to reassess his positions and make choices in accordance with reality rather than rigidity.

To that end, Hassan Rouhani’s presidency shows why Khamenei has been forced to repeatedly wrestle with reconciliation. Since his election four years ago, Rouhani has maintained arguably the most diverse and inclusive political coalition in the history of the Islamic Republic. In turn, Rouhani’s consensus-building skills and team of technocratic managers have helped stabilize the economy, end Iran’s international isolation, competently manage the affairs of the state and take initial steps toward healing the lingering divide between state and society — all important prerequisites to any hope of durable national reconciliation.