Dispute Over Ways to Crush Reformers

Rooz Online:

Following former president Mohammad Khatami’s warnings, in his first talk after leaving office, about the advances of groups with dogmatic and regressive views, there are reports that pressure groups are organizing and planning to respond to the reformer’s ideas, and attacking the Participation Front. The first step and sign of this came when ultra-conservative newspaper Kayhan editorialized on the subject. READ MORE

At the same time, news reports indicate that there seems to be a wide gulf among right-wing activist on how to deal with Khatami’s remarks and on ways to deal with the reformist groups. Some advocate violence while neo-cons who support president Ahmadinejad’s government believe that the records of members of the previous government should be investigated to show the corruption, embezzlement, and misappropriation, leading to judicial actions against them. All in an effort to silence them and drive out of business and any power base.

The Kayhan article was written by Mohammad Jaafar Behdad, a former member of the Ministry of Intelligence and a colleague of Safar Herandi who is now the nominee for the post of the Minister of Islamic Guidance but who at one time was an editor of Kayhan. In this article, Khatami is labeled in negative terms as a pro-Western secular humanist and asks him to keep his silence, rather than criticize dogmatism. The article warns the advocates of liberalism and reforms that the very people who booted out of office, can also end the influence of such individuals and deal with them.

The writer then claims that those who are criticizing the dogmatists and altruists who won the June presidential elections are doing it so as to deflect public attention from their own failures. It then asks the proponents of these ideas to specifically name individuals who are posing the danger of dogmas. “Moshakerat party with its secular ideas could not win over the public, just as dogmatic views will not be able to,” concludes the article distancing itself from such ideas, yet warning the reformers that they have the means to “push these movements away from the people to the edge.”