Reformists

A former Iranian minister says President Hassan Rouhani must hold the meeting with his American counterpart Donald Trump in Tehran on the anniversary of the 1953 coup orchestrated by the CIA to topple Iran’s democratically-elected government.

The Iranian government is under great pressure to take more steps to normalize what the Central Bank calls “unusual” economic conditions, as the country grapples with a flagging economy and the national currency slides to record lows.

A member of Iran’s Expediency Council has harshly criticized those who favour Tehran’s direct talks with Washington, saying holding negotiations with the United States after its unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal is humiliating for the Iranian nation and government.

Chief-Commander of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari says any compromise with the United States will be equal to the demise of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iranian lawmakers on Wednesday elected Ali Larijani as the speaker of the parliament for 11th consecutive year.

A member of the Iranian Parliament’s reformist faction says they will introduce their contenders for seats of the parliament’s presiding board on Tuesday, a day before the annual elections in which senior reformist Mohammad-Reza Aref will probably run for the post of the speaker.

Iran’s political atmosphere today needs a new revolutionary president with a will to take high risks, said Hamid Reza Taraqqi, a senior conservative politician.

An Iranian conservative lawmaker has lashed out at the Rouhani administration for the time and effort it spent to secure the Iran nuclear deal, saying the attempts made in that regard failed to produce the desired result.

Tehran’s City Council on Sunday unanimously elected the reformist politician Mohammad-Ali Afshani as the new mayor of the Iranian capital, after the previous mayor resigned over his health problems.

Kaveh Madani, a senior Iranian water expert who left the Imperial College of London to serve as deputy head of Iran’s Department of Environment, recently left his office after a few months over what he called the hard-liners’ pressure.

Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, the chairman of Tehran City Council, has confirmed receiving the resignation of Tehran’s reformist mayor, Mohammad-Ali Najafi, amid conflicting reports over the reason behind his decision.

Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of IRGC Quds Force, says mosques are instrumental in safeguarding the society and should serve to bring people from all walks of life closer together.

Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, the eldest son of the late Iranian politician Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was unanimously elected as the head of Tehran’s new City Council.

Mohammad-Ali Najafi, a former education and science minister and a senior reformist politician, has been unanimously elected as the new Mayor of Tehran, replacing the incumbent conservative Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

A political analyst says the way Iranian President Hassan Rouhani would form his next cabinet can play a decisive role in the political future of moderates and reformists in Iran.

Iran’s health minister says he has recently performed separate surgeries on the left eye of a senior right-winger and the right eye of a senior left-winger!

As Iranian President Rouhani is preparing to announce his next cabinet, speculations are increasingly raised on his cabinet’s line-up by main political figures from the two main political camps in Iran.

An Israeli paper recently published an analysis of Iran’s national and regional policies, saying despite growing internal divisions in the Islamic Republic, the country’s regional standing has not been undermined yet. But are these rifts that much serious?

Reformists and conservatives have shown that they both stand against those who seek to create tension in the society.

A group of senior reformist figures have decried the meddlesome comments by the US Secretary of State who spoke of regime change in Iran.

Iran’s president has lashed out at the hardliners and the opposition media for using foul language when criticizing the government.

The former reformist president Seyyed Mohammad Khatami in a message invited the Iranian nation to cast their ballots on Friday, and threw his weight behind presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani, saying he has been successful in his first four-year term.

Iranian reformists officially announced that Hassan Rouhani, the incumbent Iranian president, will be their candidate in the upcoming presidential election due to be held in May.

An Iranian parliamentarian says the public should be informed of candidates’ election expenditure.

Iran’s first vice-president, who is going to serve as a communication channel between reformists and Iran’s Leader, says Ayatollah Khamenei has no problem with reformists being present in the political arena.