In September 2015, just months after Iran had completed a nuclear deal feverishly pushed by U.S. President Barack Obama, Khamenei called the U.S. “Big Satan ” and said America wishes to “infiltrate and impose [its] will” on the Islamic Republic. Rouhani is betting that his alliance with the reformists will give him a stronger hand against the conservatives in the parliament – and perhaps hoping to garner the reformist vote in the 2017 presidential elections.
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“This means they care about young Iranians and seek to represent them in the parliament”, he said.
Rouhani ascended to office on promises of a new opening with the West, as well as the encouragement of trends toward a freer and more open Iranian society. While the initial momentum – which propelled Rouhani into the presidency – has lessened, he nonetheless has garnered popularity by successfully negotiating the nuclear agreement and offering the Iranian people better economic futures. According to government statistics, inflation stands at 13 percent.
Official campaigning only started last Thursday.
Conservatives surprised Iranians prior to the first ballots after the removal of sanctions with a very rare move. As in parliament there is intense rivalry between hardline conservatives who dominate the Assembly, and more moderate candidates.
President Rouhani and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani are standing for re-election, are expected to try to form a bloc of more moderate members to reduce the influence of the ultra-conservatives on the Assembly. Reformists have done a great job mobilizing supporters and expect a high turnout, says Farideh Farhi, an independent scholar and expert on Iranian elections.
Musavi and his wife, Rahnavard, as well as reformist cleric Mehdi Karrubi, have been under house arrest since February 2011 for repeatedly challenging the Iranian establishment and condemning human rights abuses. With moderates staying away, conservatives won parliament nearly by default in 2012.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani texted mobile phone users urging them to vote, saying participation was needed “to build the future of the country with plenty of hope”.
Khatami is considered the architect of this year’s reformist campaign.
Khatami, who served as president from 1997 to 2005, spoke despite being under a domestic media ban imposed by authorities on account of his support for protesters who opposed Ahmadinejad’s re-election.
The Assembly appoints the country’s most powerful official, the Supreme Leader.
However, if more hard-liners are elected, relations could regress back to stalemate days, putting in jeopardy much of the recent progress – such as the nuclear agreement.
It’s a familiar dilemma for a certain swath of Iran’s 55 million registered voters: Does voting makes sense in their Islamic republic, where allegations of rigging are rife and candidates are routinely disqualified by vetters from the notoriously hard-line Guardians Council?
But the assembly would play the primary role in determining a successor if Khamenei – whose health remains a question – should die or become incapacitated in the next eight years. Barely one-fifth of those seeking a place were approved.
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Their appeal has taken on added urgency after one of their main candidates, Hassan Khomeini, grandson of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was excluded from the election by the vetting committee.
