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Iran’s Reformists hit by suppression at home, pressure from abroad

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Iranian Reformists have no choice but to reinvent themselves if they are to exert political influence.
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Having drastically lost influence in domestic political tussling, Iran’s Reformists, staunch advocates against hard-liner dominance, are being further pushed to the brink by the United States.

Iran's centrist president, Hassan Rouhani, elected on the backs of Reformist voters, has been losing support since the US decision to pull out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and to re-impose harsh economic sanctions against Iran. Meanwhile, Iranian opposition groups abroad are stepping up criticism of the very idea of reform. This comes as the Reformist discourse struggles under the weight of suppression at home on the one hand and the fallout of the movement’s own strategic mistakes on the other.

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