Khamenei’s Representative: Stop People’s Nostalgia

While a number of reformist and critical political groups and personalities are still talking with Ali Akbar Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami about their candidacy in the June 14 presidential election, ayatollah Khamenei’s representative in the Revolutionary Guards corps, the Passdaran, exposed his concern about the possible presidential candidacy of these two former presidents and called on the ideological-political commanders, members and executives to prevent people from returning to the two politicians.

Speaking to the members of the ideological-political office of the Passdaran force, Ali Saeedi said, “A return to the dangerous past may create doubt, uncertainty, threats and deviation for the Islamic society.” He specifically said that return to the past could mean return to the era of the “constructionists and reformists,” terms that are associated with Rafsanjani and Khatami’s presidencies respectively. He continued, “Preventing people from going back is much easier than confronting deviation by people.”

In mid-April too cleric Saeedi had expressed concern about the upcoming elections and had criticized Rafsanjani and Khatami’s administrations while saying competition in the June campaign will be between principlists, reformists, workers and government supporters, implying Khamenei’s desire for the continued presence of principlists in the government. He then praised principlists, a group of ruling politicians and activists who claim loyalty to the original principles of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the country’s monarchy.

Rafsanjani and Khatami’s Latest Remarks

In his latest remarks Rafsanjani said that he never withdrew from public service and added that he had never said that he would not run, thus keeping the possibility of announcing his candidacy open. These remarks brought about sharp criticism from his critics and the principlists in Ahmadinejad’s administration who labeled Rafsanjani’s possible candidacy a “dangerous game.”

Khatami too spoke about his views about two weeks ago and said that if the policies that had brought about the current situation in the country changed, then it was possible to do something, adding that he did not see signs of such a change. In his most recent remarks Khatami said that reformists needed to work on a win-win formula and added that they were currently under threat. He specifically said that he feared that problems would not be solved if a new reformist government was challenged by other state agencies and institutions and he refrained from providing a direct response to a question about his plans and has therefore kept the possibility of his candidacy open.