Attacks by the Stability Front against Principlists
In the months leading up to the twelfth parliamentary elections, the political movement of the Stability Front has become active once again. However, this time, the approach is being pursued differently, with the leaders of the Principlist movement, especially the Secretary-General of the Stability Front, being targeted by their attacks.
In the political arena of Iran, particularly among Principlists, the Stability Front, which was born during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency, can be considered one of the most controversial Principlist groups. Their activities peak before every election as they strive to secure seats of power and influence decision-making processes. Some Principlists even believe they have the greatest share and impact on the direction of the thirteenth government.
According to Iran Gate, in the months leading up to the twelfth parliamentary elections, this movement has become active once again. However, this time, the approach is being pursued differently, with the leaders of the Principlist movement, especially the Secretary-General of the Stability Front, being targeted by their attacks.
Initially, they attacked Ali Larijani under the pretext of using the term ‘purification.’ Then, they used Mohammad Reza Bahonar’s criticism of disqualifications and election engineering by the government as an excuse to attack him. Finally, it was Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s turn, who, after his criticisms of quota demands, became the target of this movement’s criticisms.
In addition to attacking the Principlist leaders, the Secretary-General of the Stability Front faced a significant challenge in recent months related to his friendship with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a process that led him to officially defend and support Ahmadinejad.
End of Silence
For nearly two years after the thirteenth presidential election, Sadegh Mahsouli maintained a long silence in his political work. However, a few days after Ali Larijani reacted to a Tasnim News Agency report about his activities in the twelfth parliamentary elections by speaking of alleviating the concerns of the purification movement, the Secretary-General of the Stability Front, who was a speaker at a political meeting of the Basij students at Allameh Tabataba’i University, without even addressing Larijani’s point, proposed four steps regarding a joint list for the twelfth parliamentary elections.
In this speech, held on May 16, 2023, he stated that in achieving these commonalities, the first step is that revolutionary forces should not undermine each other. In the second step, the necessary criteria for nominating and prioritizing candidates should be precisely examined and specified, with criteria and principles clearly and transparently defined. In the third step, based on the mentioned criteria,
the commonalities of the lists should be identified, and in the fourth step, if possible, the final list should be presented as a united and joint list among the movements and revolutionary forces. He emphasizes one step in particular: the second step, which is the determination of principles and criteria, is of high importance because, in this step, one should not cross red lines, and candidates should be identified based on these criteria. According to religious narratives, if we do not choose the best, we have betrayed God, the Prophet, and the people.
However, after this speech and the clarification of the steps considered by the Stability Front, he enters another period of silence, a process that continues until August of this year.
First Step: Ali Larijani
Nearly three months after Sadegh Mahsouli presented the four steps of the Stability Front for a unified list in the parliamentary elections in May, he appeared on the News Network on August 11. On a day when Mahsouli portrayed himself as opposing the interference of the armed forces and governing bodies in the elections, he made another reference to their preferred candidates, stating that individuals with a distinguished record in preserving the country’s independence should be introduced.
There are individuals who attack the independent institution of the revolution in the country but do not consider themselves subversive. Of course, criticism is not problematic, but attacking the foundations of the system is wrong, a statement that seems to target Ali Larijani, who has criticized the actions of the Guardian Council and was harmed by the Guardian Council’s actions during the 2020 presidential elections.
After appearing on the live program, Sadegh Mahsouli’s engine for speeches is revved up, and he intensifies his attacks on Principlists step by step. Previously, he did not make direct references to Ali Larijani, but this time he uses a word that clearly targets Ali Larijani.
In his speech on September 23, hosted by the Office for Strengthening Unity, he says, ‘Today, we are in a severe hybrid war with the enemy, which, unlike the imposed war, does not have the sound of bombings, mortars, and bullets. This war is much harder. In this war, we see some so-called insiders striking from behind without being seen.’
Only those who have insight understand this, but the climax comes after this statement when he says, ‘We must be wary of word-making with the propaganda of those who have been in various positions in the system for years, have betrayed more than served the people, and are now demanding. We should not be influenced by their slogans and word-making like purification; they themselves are more in pursuit of purification.’
Yes, purification is the removal of Western-oriented figures from various positions in the country, and for this reason, they fear the presence of revolutionary forces in parliament and government. Western-oriented individuals who have regretted being revolutionary and even express opposition and regret towards the policies and actions of the late Imam.
However, after this speech, Sadegh Mahsouli once again begins his silence and continues it for almost another three months. The third phase of breaking silence by Sadegh Mahsouli begins with continued attacks on Ali Larijani.
On November 17, at the General Assembly of the Stability Front, he makes a statement that initially seems to criticize the government’s performance: ‘The government has weaknesses, the main one being that some individuals present in the government, like the President himself, are not transformational in thought and action, yet they remain in the government. We expect and demand that the government quickly replace such individuals with efficient revolutionary forces.’ However, he continues and uses a phrase to complete his statement that indicates
Mahsouli’s intention is that he is not fully satisfied with the process of homogenization in the government and wants Raisi to deepen this process. But the target audience in this path is the continuation of his sentence: ‘We expect the government not to fall into the traps of accusations like purification. Unfortunately, today, the repetition of the term purification has become a code word for attacking meritocracy.’
We must strive with jihadist effort; only through meritocracy and criterion-based approaches can we replicate political figures like Haj Qasem. We should not fear labels like purification and the like.
Second Step: Mohammad Reza Bahonar
On November 19, Mohammad Reza Bahonar gives an interview with the Young Journalists Club, and without naming any specific movement, he complains about the process of disqualifications for the twelfth parliamentary elections in the executive boards, saying, ‘My request to the supervisory boards is to pay attention that if someone is truly identified as anti-system and subversive, yes, in that case, no one believes in approving their qualification.’
But individuals who have served in the system, even if they are reformists or do not accept the Principlist movement or Bahonar himself and criticize Mr. Raisi’s government, this is not a sin, and this is actually political activity and being lively. The fact that someone has a problem with the government and their qualification is rejected has no logic. This is itself a form of election engineering.
Although in this interview, Bahonar does not even indirectly refer to the Stability Front, they take the former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament’s comments personally. This time, the spokesperson of the Stability Front enters the fray and responds to the Secretary-General of the Islamic Engineers Community. Majid Motaghifer, on December 7 of this year, in an interview with the Young Journalists Club, says, ‘Mr. Bahonar talks like this a lot.’
He once said that it is not correct for the Stability Front to say 50% of this list is for me, and it is absolutely false. We never said this in any election. I don’t know from what position he speaks or who appointed him to make these comments, and who made him a guardian, which has its own place. He becomes the head and issues decrees for himself. This is how Mr. Bahonar is; when something doesn’t suit him, he easily accuses.
Bring one documented case where someone was disqualified because of opposition to the government. He has become a player in a role, and they have designed a playing field where he is working and engaged to boost them. He tries to hit the influential currents in the elections.
Third Step: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
In December of this year, another significant event occurs in the Principlist movement in line with the March parliamentary elections. On December 4, the Awakening Assembly of Revolutionary Forces, or Mabna, holds its first electoral conference at the Imam’s shrine.
The important point of the conference was that none of the prominent figures of the Stability Front were invited to this conference. A conference where Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Gholam Ali Haddad Adel were the main speakers, indicating that they will present their list around these two individuals for the twelfth parliamentary elections. However, Haddad Adel plays more of an elder statesman role. An invitation was also extended to Seyed Ebrahim Raisi to attend this conference, but he did not come.
In part of this ceremony, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in his speech takes a jab at some Principlists, saying, ‘We must consider quota demands forbidden. Those who should enter parliament are those who have the concern and ability to solve problems because the country needs transformation.’
This statement is a continuation of the trend that the Speaker of the Eleventh Parliament has followed over the past year and a half, repeatedly attacking a faction of Principlists on various occasions without naming a specific group, using the term ‘super-revolutionary’ for them. For example, he had said, ‘We look at some people, and no matter how much we look at what they have done, they have done nothing, yet they demand from everyone.’
In this statement at the Mabna conference, Ghalibaf again does not make a direct reference to any movement, and in the matter of quota demands, he does not name anyone. But, like the Bahonar incident, the words are spoken, and the Stability Front takes the words personally. However, this time, the Secretary-General of the Stability Front enters the scene.
A few days after the Speaker’s speech, Sadegh Mahsouli gives an interview with Fars News Agency, and in part of this interview, published on December 12, he responds to Ghalibaf, saying, ‘I think now the situation in society is clearer than before, and revolutionary currents have realized that what we said in the previous period was correct.’
That is, we must stand more firmly on principles and values. You yourself are witnessing, for example, some friends come and say quota demands are forbidden. In the previous period, the list of Tehran candidates from the coalition friends, which Fars News Agency announced, was changed after a while. Why was the list changed? Who flipped the table? The same ones who were in the coalition.
Support for Ahmadinejad
Apart from the process that the Stability Front and its main components have followed in attacking the Principlist leaders, the Secretary-General of this Principlist movement has been grappling with a significant challenge in recent months. Some Principlists, after Mahsouli’s attacks on the Principlist leaders began, responded and retaliated by raising the issue of Sadegh Mahsouli’s wealth and how it was acquired with the help of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After this trend peaked and topics like oil swaps and tower building regarding Sadegh Mahsouli and his wealth were raised, three paths were considered for reacting to this issue.
First, Majid Motaghifer, the spokesperson of the Stability Front, gave an interview with the Young Journalists Club on December 7 and completely denied Sadegh Mahsouli’s economic activities from Ahmadinejad’s time, saying, ‘Mr. Mahsouli has not done any economic work since Ahmadinejad’s government, not even a single dinar. Well, how much does he have anyway? Even the major expenses were covered by him. He also has a charity and gives gift cards worth two hundred to three hundred thousand tomans to three to four thousand people during the New Year. We are not going to advertise these.’
In the second stage, Sadegh Mahsouli’s office issued a statement on December 10 regarding the issues raised about the wealth of the Secretary-General of the Stability Front, considering it a project for defamation. ‘One of the enemies’ designs is to activate burnt-out project-takers against revolutionary forces with the aim of blackening and creating discouragement among the people to weaken the people’s component of religious governance, so they can remove one of the main factors of deterrent power against enemy attacks through this path.’
Therefore, the enemies design a multi-stage project to damage or weaken this power, to undermine this massive popular presence. One aspect of this design is defamation and spreading lies against revolutionary currents and effective forces of the revolutionary front with the aim of creating discouragement in society.
But in the third step, Sadegh Mahsouli himself enters the fray and strongly defends the ninth and tenth governments’ president. In part of this interview, conducted on December 12 with Fars News Agency, he said, ‘Mr. Ahmadinejad is someone who, regardless of the fact that he had a university doctorate, that too in the field of engineering, had the nature of management. Mr. Ahmadinejad was indeed successful in execution and provided very significant services. He established a solid pillar of justice-orientedness and justice-spreading, which we did not have such an individual in the executive position before.’
The problem we have in the system is that some friends, unfortunately, due to misunderstanding, because they do not like Mr. Ahmadinejad, either do not see or negatively portray the good works of his government.
The Path of Stability
As mentioned, the main components of the Stability Front have targeted the leaders and elders of the Principlist movement for their activities in the twelfth parliamentary elections and are waiting for the Principlist leaders to make a statement so they can attack them. Interestingly, none of those who have been attacked—Ali Larijani, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf—have made direct references to the Stability Front in their statements. However, as the saying goes, ‘throw the words on the ground, and its owner will pick it up.’
Of course, it should not be forgotten that in the wave of attacks by the Stability Front, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel is also alongside Larijani, Bahonar, and Ghalibaf. However, with the difference that the main components of the Stability Front do not have direct or even indirect dealings with Haddad Adel. Perhaps some secondary components of this political movement, when using the term ‘godfather,’ with the codes they provide, mean Haddad Adel.
As Haddad Adel himself, in one of his speeches in August of this year, during a meeting of the Central Council of the Coalition of Revolutionary Forces, made a point with a hint, saying, ‘We should not allow the distortion movement, under the cover of revolutionary literature, to create a false perception of the revolutionary front in the public mind and introduce revolutionaries as lacking rationality and ethics in political matters.’
Overall, it seems that this wave and the existence of differences and, of course, verbal altercations between the Stability Front and other Principlists will increase more than before in the coming months. A trend that is not different from previous periods and the performance of the Stability Front in past elections. This organization has usually sought to form a coalition around ‘us’ in the Principlist movement and has thus drawn lines and demanded shares from other Principlist organizations. During this period, they have shown no inclination towards the main coalition groups of Principlists, namely the Coalition Council of Revolutionary Forces and the Unity Council of Revolutionary Forces, and even members of this organization have called both of them patriarchal.
Now, with the attacks made by the main components of the Stability Front on Ali Larijani, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the faint hope for unity in presenting a Principlist list and at least the presence of Stability Front figures in the lists with the leadership of Principlist leaders is almost close to zero. The Stability Front will play its opposing tune even within this unified Principlist movement to enter the twelfth parliamentary elections with the perspective of ‘either with us or against us,’ likely reducing diversity within this potential coalition list.