Hassan Rouhani will not be inaugurated as President for another month, but already elements within the regime are putting out warnings that he best behave himself in office.
The military leads the way with the Cultural Advisor to the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi, setting out guidelines: Rouhani is not a Reformist but is someone who will be active “within the framework of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Saffar Harandi added that Rouhani did not criticize the system — and thus the Supreme Leader — during his campaign, buy only “criticized the present [Ahmadinejad] administration or trends that were pursued by the administration”.

MP and former Revolutionary Guards commander Esmail Kowsari said that, if Rouhani “does not perform in a non-partisan way, the Parliament will certainly react”.

And the hard-line Kayhan gets specific, challenging Rouhani for the thanks he gave to former President Mohammad Khatami, key backer of the President-elect’s campaign in its final days: “With attention to the destructive role that [Khatami] had in the sedition [protests over the disputed 2009 Presidential election], it exacerbates concerns that Dr. Rouhani might neglect the danger that the leaders and agents of the sedition could pose for his administration.”

The latest volleys follow last week’s declaration by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a Tehran Friday Prayers leader, “The Supreme Leader is the articulation of the will of the people in the Islamic Republic, and no one, not even the president-elect, can take contrary positions.”

Ayatollah Khamenei’s senior military advisor, Yahiya Rahim-Safavi, added, “We saw many political and religious leaders, and ministers and officials who did not end with righteous fates. My most important advice is for everyone to pursue a righteous fate.”

By Enduring America

 

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