A reformist figure in Tehran says some Iranian hardliners are reactionary elements who even do not listen to the advice of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Gholamreza Ansari said in an interview with the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) that these reactionaries have created a situation in which social crises could explode like grenades at any moment.
He was referring to a serious economic crisis triggered by US sanctions and the failure to reach a nuclear deal that could free Iran of the economic pressure.
Ansari, who has post-graduate degrees both in sciences and social sciences held various government positions during reformist governments and was an ambassador to Turkmenistan.
He argued that the reactionary elements also known as "the concerned groups" entrenched themselves in ultraconservative governments of Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ebrahim Raisi.
One example of these reactionaries, routinely singled out by critics is Iran's Housing Minister Rostam Ghasemi, who during religious mourning events this week suddenly spoke against nuclear talks to restore the Iran nuclear deal. Ghasemi used religious rhetoric to emphasize intransigence rather than compromise.
In an August 7 tweet, Ghasemi likened the United States to Shemr, the man who beheaded the Shiite Imam Hussain in the year 680 AD, while also likening Iran to Imam Hussain. He quoted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi as having said that the United States is not trustworthy as a partner to any agreement.
On the previous day, the reformist daily Sharq quoted Ghasemi as having said based on the same analogy: "The Shiites of Hussain will not forget their mission with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)” offered by evil forces.
Subsequently, former Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati reminded Ghasemi that he is no longer Iran's oil minister, the post he used to hold under President Ahmadinejad. Other social media users told Ghasemi that as Iran's housing minister he is no position to intervene in the nuclear dossier. Others warned Ghasemi that while the rest of the government is working hard to reach a deal with the United States, he should not speak against an agreement.
In his interview with ILNA, Ansari pointed out that the reactionaries derail government policies with their hollow slogans. This comes while most of the hardliner politicians who belonged to "the concerned group," including ultraconservative lawmaker Javad Karimi Ghoddousi have sometimes paid lip service to a nuclear deal that the hardliners desperately need for lifting US sanctions.
Ansari accused the hardliner group of spreading their hallucinations and superficial ideas about the affairs of the state instead of offering real solutions to the country's problems. At the same time, they try to force others who have a solution out of the political realm.
He said this group which has the upper hand in the current government cannot even solve a problem as simple as providing bread for the nation, charging that lack of coordination among the members of this group and Raisi's economic team has further exacerbated the crisis Iran faces.
"With their wrong policies and lack of coordination those who had promised to solve all of the country's economic problems overnight, and turn Iran into another Japan, have created serious problems and challenges for the nation," Ansari said. He added that "Instead, they have given way to the presence of unqualified individuals in the government and paved the way for corruption, smuggling and offering exclusive concessions to the group's members."