Mr. Bahonar, do you have anything else?

Mr. Bahonar, do you have anything else?

Mr. Bahonar, do you have anything else? According to Iran Gate, the recent statements by Mohammad Reza Bahonar regarding participating in the elections have sparked reactions from many political figures both inside and outside the country. Many believe that Bahonar is trying to please the hardline factions in the Islamic Republic in order to return to the political scene and secure a share of the power within the governing structure of the Islamic Republic.

Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the former Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, in his recent controversial interview, launched harsh attacks on reformists and even did not spare Ali Larijani. Analysts believe he is trying to prove himself to the hardline factions within the government and return to the circle of power. It seems this political figure, who was previously known as a moderate principlist and a supporter of the status quo, is now trying to gain the trust of his hardline peers.

Left behind from the second step

Recently, Ali Larijani, in a very important statement, revealed the extensive efforts of the ruling faction to purify power. He, with a hint at his own disqualification in the 2021 presidential elections, introduced it as part of the same policy, believing that the hardliners not only do not tolerate reformists and moderates but also exclude moderate and traditional principlists from the circle of power.

Mohammad Reza Bahonar is one of the main victims of this policy of the hardline principlists. He, known as a moderate and centrist principlist, has been meaningfully sidelined from the circle of power in the purification process.

Of course, the hardliners and so-called purifiers define this approach within what is called the second step of the revolution and consider it in line with the policies approved by the leader of the Islamic Republic. This faction, which currently has unquestionable influence in all three branches of government—executive, legislative, and judiciary—does not seem to have any intention of creating an opening for the return of moderate figures, even principlists, to power.

This is why it is said that Bahonar and figures with similar approaches have been harshly excluded and are now trying to carve a place for themselves in the second step of the revolution with stances like those recently seen from the former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.

Mr. Bahonar, you are mistaken

In his recent statements, Bahonar harshly criticized Saeed Hajjarian and severely reproached the reformists for their stance of not participating in the elections. He criticized the reformists’ approach of setting conditions for the government to participate in the elections and believes that it is the government’s right to consider the participation of political currents in the elections as conditional.

It seems this principlist figure is mistaken because if a line of critics of the current conditions for the presence of political figures in the elections were to be formed, Mohammad Reza Bahonar would certainly be one of the first in line. This is because he and his like-minded individuals not only have no share of power but also have very little chance of successfully passing the barrier of supervisory approval.

The experience of Ali Larijani’s disqualification reminded observers that the government and the hard core of power have no interest in sharing power with figures outside the circle of governmental hardliners. This is why it is said that Bahonar and possibly his friends are mistaken, seeing themselves in the position of a sympathetic advisor and reproaching the reformists.

Where is Ali Larijani, and where are Bahonar and the likes of Bahonar?

In part of this interview, Bahonar, by differentiating himself from Ali Larijani, claims that he has maintained his position in the power hierarchy and has not lost his previous status. But the reality is that Bahonar and his like-minded individuals have not only disembarked from the train but also have no hope of boarding the vehicle of power again. This old principlist is well aware that he has fallen victim to the purification project and, unless structural changes occur, there is no hope for his return to power.

The Front of Stability and radical and authoritarian currents, when willing to pay the price of removing a heavyweight figure like Ali Larijani, can certainly dismiss individuals like Bahonar, who are miles apart from Larijani, with the ease of a blink of an eye.