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Are Reformists, Rouhani heading for split?

After supporting Hassan Rouhani in the presidential elections, Reformists expect Rouhani to repay them with support in the parliamentary elections, but that may not be the case.
Iranian former Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref (C), attends the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF) party meeting  in Tehran on January 15,2015. Iranian reformers gathered in Tehran, the first since 2009, with the ambition to return parliament to conservative control in the 2016 parliamentary elections, taking advantage of the momentum that carried Hassan Rohani to president in 2013. AFP PHOTO/ ATTA KENARE        (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)
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Without the Reformists’ support, Mr. Rouhani would have gotten less than 2 million votes,” said Sadegh Zibakalam, professor of political science at the University of Tehran, speaking on May 5 about the June 2013 presidential elections.

Zibakalam played an active role in Hassan Rouhani’s presidential campaign and was even featured in a television documentary encouraging people to vote for Rouhani. The push by Reformists during the last few days leading up to the elections resulted in Rouhani getting more than 50% of the votes in the first round. Perhaps the most important of these developments was when, after pressure from the Reformist former President Mohammad Khatami, Mohammad-Reza Aref (the Reformist candidate) withdrew from the race in favor of Rouhani.

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