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Should Reformists go conservative in parliamentary elections?

As former Iranian Reformist presidential candidate Mohammad Reza Aref begins to form a broad coalition of Reformist groups, analysts and activists are taking public positions on what is the best strategy for Reformists to take over the parliament and aid President Hassan Rouhani's moderate policies.
File photo taken May 28, 2013 shows former Iranian Vice President and former presidential candidate Mohammad Reza Aref, who has withdrawn from the presidential race. The Iranian presidential election will be held June 14. REUTERS/Fars News (POLITICS ELECTIONS PROFILE) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTX10KSJ

Rumors have begun to circulate in Iranian media that Mohammad Reza Aref, the sole Reformist candidate in the 2013 presidential elections who withdrew in favor of Hassan Rouhani, may emerge as a key Reformist candidate in Iran’s next parliamentary elections in 2016.

These rumors surfaced after former Tehran Mayor Gholam Hossein Karbaschi, the secretary-general of the Construction Party, had suggested that the Reformist groups may reach an agreement to nominate Ali Akbar Nategh-Nuri — a conservative clergyman who served as parliament speaker from 1992 to 2000 and who was reportedly Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s preferred candidate in the 1997 elections — as their lead candidate for the next parliamentary elections.

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