Soon after taking office, US President Donald Trump adopted policies that led to the strengthening of Iranian hard-liners. With the Jan. 3 assassination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, he laid the ground for the near-total marginalization of the Reform movement and President Hassan Rouhani.

In domestic politics, Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Quds Force, actually held moderate positions. Now, to take advantage of his killing, Iranian hard-liners are painting him as an ultraconservative aligned with their own interests. Their strategy could end up tarnishing the image of Soleimani, who was regarded as a national hero among diverse segments of Iranian society.

Trump bragged about how he had ordered Soleimani’s assassination in Baghdad, while the general was on an official visit. His boasting closed the doors to diplomacy, while making Iranians even more cynical about the US administration. In fact, the establishment controlling Iran's political system can’t even consider sitting at a table with Trump representatives one day in the future, as it would lose face with its main backers among the religious class in Iran.

Nonetheless, the hard-liners and establishment figures welcome the current atmosphere, as they see the possibility of Soleimani’s assassination leading to the resounding defeat of Rouhani’s moderate foreign policy approach. Staunch conservatives argue that Rouhani’s policies — including negotiating with the United States in reaching the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 — have been humiliating for Tehran. In a direct swipe at Rouhani, the hard-line activist Mehrdad Bazrpash assertd on Jan. 10, “Between the dignity and humiliation, [Soleimani] chose the dignity and thus became dear in the hearts and minds of the people.”