Iranian daily Jomhouri-e Eslami in an article on Tuesday laid into Sadegh Mahsouli, the head of the far-right Perseverance Front, for infuriating the public by “ignoring diversity of opinions in society and making every effort to consolidate power.”
“The way some parliamentary candidates are treated on the one hand, and the comments some political activists make about the parliamentary elections and the governance structure of the country, on the other, are issues that, if not addressed, will bring about a dangerous future for our country,” Jomhouri-e Eslami wrote.
The newspaper noted that the demand for “further purification” by Mahsouli, who was also the interior minister and minister of welfare and social security during former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s tenure, is “illegal, and against freedom of speech and expression”, and will blow in the face of the goals supposed to propel by the Islamic Revolution.
The so-called purification move, which has already started and is moving ahead at full blast in Iran, is reportedly aimed at securing a parliament dominated by supporters of President Ebrahim Raisi.
Mahsouli himself has described the move as “meritocratic.”
