Iran’s Reformist Clerics Say Revolution ‘Deviated’ From Goals

Two of Iran’s oldest clerical groups have said many Iranians facing hardships have “come to doubt the Revolution" and "have less hope in a better future."

A joint statement on the 43rd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, from the Society of Combatant Clergy and the Society of Qom Seminary Teachers and Researchers, found signs of "unmistakable crisis” in "increased emigration of the elite and talented youth from the country, capital drain… hardships in people's lives and their belief that the situation will further worsen..." The statement concluded that the 1979 revolution has deviated from its initial goals.

The Society of Combatant Clergy (Majma-e Rohaniyoun-e Mobarez), a reformist grouping open only to clerics, has sometimes taken on the role of a political party. It and the affiliated Society of Qom Seminary Teachers and Researchers (Majma Moddaresin o Mohagheghin Howze-ye Elmi-ye Qom) are two of the oldest associations in the Islamic Republic.

"It is difficult to speak of the Islamic Revolution…and acclaiming it is even harder," said the statement, released to the press Monday, noting a shrinking middle class and growing numbers in poverty, with the political system losing characteristics that made it a republic and more and more Iranians considered "outsiders."

First to deviate

The Society of Combatant Clergy was led by former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi until 2009 when he left and formed Etemad-e Melli, the National Trust Party. Since 2011, Mohammad Khatami, who was president from 1997 until 2005, has chaired the society's central council.

Influential cleric Mohammad Mousavi-Khoiniha has been the group's secretary-general since 2005.Mousavi-Khoiniha, the mentor of students who imprisoned United States embassy staff for 444 days in 1979-80, held several important positions including prosecutor-general under the first Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, but was sidelined under Ali Khamenei.

The Society dates to 1987 when members with reformist tendencies and leftist economic views branched off, with Khomeini’s blessing, from the Association of Combatant Clergy (Jame-ye Rohaniyat-e Mobarez).

So far, most media have published the statement but refrained from comment. Fars news agency, which is linked to the Revolutionary Guards, said the two groups had been among the "the first to deviate" from Khomeini's teachings and from the revolution. Fars claimed the statement might relate to a letter that former president Khatami has purportedly written to Khamenei about the Iran’s current circumstances.

Many younger Iranians, born after the revolution, question the very goals of the Islamic Republic. During protests in the past four years and on social media they have rejected political rule by clerics, discrimination against women and lifestyle restrictions the religious government imposes on them.