Victories put Iranian Reformists on path to repeat past failures

TEHRAN, Iran — It has become customary for Iran’s Reformists to unite in the face of defeat and to attack one another in times of success. With their rivals vanquished in consecutive victories in presidential, parliamentary and city council elections, differences within the Reformist camp are being highlighted, as occurred under Reformist President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005).

Ahead of the 2016 parliamentary elections, the Reform movement decided to organize not merely under the Reformist Front Coordination Council, which coordinates among the various groups and factions, but under a new Supreme Council for Policymaking, which oversees the latter and consists of the heads of Reformist organizations and Khatami advisers. 

The Reformists employed the same approach in the presidential as well as concurrent city and village council elections last May, although the Supreme Council was initially envisioned to sit only for the parliamentary elections. Instead, it continued, with a few adjustments, including increasing the number of council members and allocating seats to new Reformists. The council is where the Reformists’ internal differences began.

Critics said the council's activities meant that the parties played a less prominent role and certain influential figures were allowed to make decisions for the entire Reform movement. Among the critics who believed individuals should not act in place of parties were prominent Reformist clerics Hadi Khamenei, secretary-general of the Assembly of the Forces of the Imam's Line; Rasoul Montakhab-nia, deputy head of the Etemad-e Melli Party; and Mohsen Rahami, secretary-general of the Islamic Association of University Teachers. These three clerics saw the council’s mission as accomplished after the parliamentary elections and therefore stopped attending its meetings.