Ahmad Zeidabadi: The main mistake and blame lie with the Principlists
In a note published in the Etemad newspaper, Ahmad Zeidabadi attributed the current protests of the Iranian people to the resistance of the Principlists against reforms since 1997. In part of his note, he mentioned:
The event that occurred on the 2nd of Khordad in 1997 was neither due to the whims of a specific group, nor related to a foreign conspiracy, nor did it descend from the sky. That event merely unveiled the general tendencies of society and their political, cultural, and social demands, bringing them from beneath the surface into the public political arena. This occurrence should have been welcomed by various components of the government, or at least made them aware of the ongoing currents within the depths of society, and led to careful planning for the gradual adaptation of policies to public demands, so that Iranian society could achieve the necessary political stability and durability through this means. Although the small and large mistakes of the reformists during that period cannot be denied, the main mistake and blame lie with the Principlists, who exerted all their efforts to deny or distort the exposed reality and suppress any movement towards fulfilling those demands, ultimately sending Seyyed Mohammad Khatami home from the Pasteur building empty-handed.