Iran’s Reformists – ‘Reforms Are Dead, Long Live Reforms!’
Same time last year, a month before the June 2021 presidential election, Iran's 'reformists' were still hopeful that one of them might win the election.
Same time last year, a month before the June 2021 presidential election, Iran's 'reformists' were still hopeful that one of them might win the election.
It took them only a few days to find out that that the Guardian Council, or in other words Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has other plans for the country's future.
The Council under Khamenei’s supervision rejected almost all reformist and even moderate-conservative candidates, all but ensuring the election of the preferred hardliner candidate, Ebrahim Raisi.
Although two of the final candidates, former Central bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati and former Governor General of Khorasan Province Mohsen Mehralizadeh, liked to be characterized as "reformist," few politicians, let alone voters would recognize them as such. Some reformists even thought about forming coalitions with moderate conservative figures such as dormer Majles (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani and former lawmaker Ali Motahari.
Today, after a year, some of them still occasionally get some press coverage while some others are absolutely silent and do not wish to be remembered as former candidates.
The reformists' first choice for the post, former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif never registered as a candidate. Since then, he has been seen at two Ramadan banquets at the Presidential office and Khamenei's headquarters. Currently, he teaches at the University of Tehran and his political career appears to have come to an end after he charged in a leaked tape in April 2020 that former Qods Force Commander Qasem Soleimani got his orders from Russia.
One of the most likely candidates, former Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri who lost his popularity after his brother was indicted and jailed for financial corruption, became a target of attacks by hardliners in the new government and Majles who blamed him for economic problems. He never became a candidate either.
Former deputy interior minister Mostafa Tajzadeh was extremely vocal against the government ahead of the election and welcomed by younger reformists. However, at the end, he decided that neither him nor anyone else should run for president in protest to the Guardian Council's unilateral and widespread disqualification of pro-reform candidates.
Massoud Pezeshkian, a lawmaker from Tabriz and a vocal critic of former President Hassan Rouhani and Raisi, was disqualified by the Guardian Council. He currently runs Ensaf News website.
Mohammad Reza Aref who was harshly criticized for his aloofness and silence as the leader of the reform faction in the previous Majles, did not run and has kept silent after the 2021 election. Mohsen Hashemi, the chairman of Tehran City Council, appears to have quit his political career and is currently editing his father’s, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's memoirs. Last week he complained that the Culture Ministry has censored a large part of the latest volume.
Mostafa Kavakebian, the leader of the very small reformist party Mardom Salari, continues publishing his newspaper under the same name but appears undecided between criticizing Raisi or appeasing him in the hope of receiving some favors.
Regardless of strict opposition by clerics and hardliners to women running for president, former vice presidents Shahindokht Molaverdi and Zahra Shojaee were nominated for the post but were disqualified by the Guardian Council. Molaverdi currently works as a notary public and Shojaee is in bed with cancer. Both were active in trying to expand women’s rights.
Mohammad Sadeq Kharrazi, a relative of Khamenei, a former senior diplomat and the leader of Neda Party has quit politics without any explanation.
However, part of the reform camp, mainly right of center Kargozaran Party, does not seem to be affected by disillusionment and despair. As the party's leader Hossein Marashi has said in a recent interview: "We know that there are limitations, but there is no way for us other than political struggle." Marashi is famous for his motto: "Reforms are dead, long live the reforms!"
In an open letter to Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf Wednesday, sixty-one archeology professors expressed deep concern over a motion, entitled "Optimum Use of Ancient Artifacts and Treasures", and demanded it to be shelved.
The motion has not officially been presented on the parliament floor yet but a copy of it has circulated in the media.
Archeologists said the planned was prepared without any consultations with expert organizations such as the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, the Society of Iranian Archeologists, or the Archeology Taskforce of the Ministry of Science and is in contradiction to several existing laws which regulate archeological excavation and trade in items of historical value.
The proposal also reinforces public perceptions that Islamic Republic officials are corrupt and take advantage of national wealth to enrich themselves.
The 46 lawmakers behind the motion, argue that legalizing trade in historical artifacts which will stop illegal trade and smuggling, could help Iran turn into a "regional hub of trade," and bring hard currency income to the country.
In their letter, archeologists strongly objected to selling the historical wealth of the country to procure income. Privatizing excavation and legalizing trade will also deprive the country's own museums, which will not be able to compete with private buyers, and deprive then of any future findings, they said.
Moreover, approval of the motion could result in inexperienced excavators damaging archeological sites and their contents as well as lack of proper reporting of information related to the excavation sites and other related information which are of great significance to historians and archeologists.
Iran has numerous prehistoric and ancient sites many of which are still unexplored. Some of these sites, such as the paleolithic Ghogha Golan in the foothills of the Zagros mountains in the west of the country date back to as far back as 10,000 years.
Massive collections of ancient Persian artifacts excavated by foreign archeologists before the twentieth century adorn many top museums in the world such as the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London, the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute Museum, and the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Hamid Baghaei, Chief of the Cultural Heritage Organization and a close confidante of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2010 sought to legalize trade in historical artifacts and antiques and establish an international exchange on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf. The plan raised much objection and was eventually discarded.
On Wednesday, Hossein Jalali, one of the lawmakers who put his signature on the motion, told Entekhab news website that he has realized that critics are right, and the motion is faulty. One of the provisions in the proposed law may result in numerous excavations and the removal of excavated artifacts from the country, he said.
According to current laws, excavation for historical artifacts and transferring them outside Iranian borders without approval of the authorities are illegal and punishable by cash fines and prison. Any accidental findings, during construction for instance, must be handed over to the Cultural Heritage Organization.
Although trade in ancient artifacts is illegal, many such items find their way to markets including online platforms. A year ago, the cultural heritage organization prevented the sale of an ancient drinking vessel (rhyton) on Divar, an online auction and shopping platform in Iran similar to eBay but many other artifacts of various historical age and value are still traded on online platforms.
Moderate news website Rouydad24 quoted Saedi as saying that the current situation is more serious because the people's livelihood and bread, as the bare minimum for survival, are at stake.
Bread prices jumped last week as the government ended import subsidies for wheat and other essential commodities.
The lawmaker from Khuzestan, where intermittent protests have taken place since last week, said that never in the past 43 years since the Islamic Republic came to existence people have been so concerned about back-breaking prices. Saedi added that millions of Iranians are unable to plan for their life because wrong government policies have made any prediction impossible.
Saedi added that the people's expectations from President Ebrahim Raisi have not been met and we must now acknowledge that his economic team is weak. "It looks like they have no plans and if they had any, those plans totally ignored the interests of low-income Iranians," Saedi said.
"It no longer makes sense comparing prices to what they were in the past months. People can find out about rising prices by comparing them to yesterday's prices," he added.
The lawmaker explained that low incomes, high inflation, and the government's inability to provide essential commodities have made life difficult for Iranians who can no longer tolerate the shortages and high prices. "This is a situation our enemies in and out of the country have always wished for," Saedi stressed.
Meanwhile, Iran Monitor website quoted former lawmaker Mansour Haghighatpoor as saying that the current parliament (Majles) shares responsibility for the failure of Raisi's government as lawmakers laid a red carpet for Raisi following his election as President in 2021, although now they do not know what to do with the government they helped rise to power.
Haghighatpoor also criticized the Majles for failing to use its supervisory tools to correct the situation. The former lawmaker obviously ignored the fact that the Majles tried on several occasion to impeach Raisi's economic ministers but the its presidium shelved the calls thanks to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's support for the Raisi administration that many believe is the leader's creation.
The former lawmaker pointed out that Iran's economic problems are the outcome of an undeniable mismanagement. He charged that the Majles confirmed a group of ministers but cannot supervise or correct their behavior. Haghighatpoor characterized the parliament's performance in this regard as "treason." He said not doing anything about the ministers' failures and not protecting the country's national interests is tantamount to adding insult to injury.
This comes while Iranian political commentator Hassan Beheshtipoor said in an interview with Didban Iran that besides domestic political reasons, there are also international developments that indicate Iran is going to come under further economic pressures. Beheshtipoor added that the current situation in the energy market is not going to last long and at the same time, US Congress seems to be determined to prevent a nuclear agreement between Tehran and Washington that would inevitably bring about an improvement to Iran's ailing economy.
However, like most Iranian analysts, Beheshtipoor also said that the best option for Iran is to try to find a new solution to issues hampering an agreement with the United States, as Tehran is under immense economic pressures.