Iran Analysis: Is a Political Compromise with Reformists Possible? (Afshari)
Monday, July 25, 2011 at 8:07
President Ahmadinejad & former President KhatamiAccording to this scheme devised by the ruling regime, reformed reformers would be allowed to play a peripheral political role in the body politic. Through negotiations, media operations and repeated dispatch of messages, a fake and yet optimistic picture would be presented to reformers so that they would move to a position where the regime wants it to be: away from openly challenging the regime while remaining harmless.
In fact, the Iranian regime has a successful track record of pulling reformers and the left into the political electioneering field and then checkmating them. This is what has repeatedly taken place from the election days for the second Assembly of Experts till today. The regime has lost this game only in two instances: elections that resulted in Khatami’s presidency (1997-2005) and those for the sixth Majlis (2000-2004).