Iranian principlists

The Principlists (Persian: اصول‌گرایان, romanized:Osul-Garāyān, lit.'followers of principles, fundamentalists'), also interchangeably known as the Iranian Conservatives and formerly referred to as the Right or Right-wing, are one of two main political camps in post-revolutionary Iran; the Reformists are the other camp. The term hardliners that some Western sources use in the Iranian political context usually refers to the faction. The faction rejects the status quo internationally, but favors domestic preservation.

Demographics

According to a poll conducted by the Iranian Students Polling Agency (ISPA) in April 2017, 15% of Iranians identify as leaning Principlist. In comparison, 28% identify as leaning Reformist.

In April 2021, a joint public opinion survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and IranPoll found out that 19% of Iranians identified as Principlist while 7% were leaning Principlist, and if Reformists (21%) and leaning Reformist (10%) were still higher, they also noted that "the support base for the reformists has shrunk by about 8 percentage points since 2017, while the support base for the conservatives has grown by 4 percentage points."

Factions

• Ultra conservatives—also known as neoconservatives. This grouping is more aggressive and openly confrontational toward the West. Many ultra- or neo-Principlists are laymen representing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) collectively.
• Traditional conservatives are a political faction that helped form the Revolutionary government and can point to personal ties with Ruhollah Khomeini. These conservatives support the Islamist government and advocate for clerical rule. (See also: Clericalism in Iran)
• Deviant current are a political faction led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that espouses Islamic populism and Iranian nationalism.

Election results

Presidential elections

Parliament

Parties and organizations

Alliances

• The Two Societies (unofficial)
• Front of Followers of the Line of the Imam and the Leader (founded in the 1990s)
• Coordination Council of Islamic Revolution Forces (founded 2000)
• Front of Transformationalist Principlists (founded 2005)
• Resistance Front of Islamic Iran (founded 2011)
• Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces (founded 2016)

Electoral

• Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran (2003, 2004)
• Coalition of Iran's Independent Volunteers (2004)
• Coalition of the Pleasant Scent of Servitude (2006)
• Principlists Pervasive Coalition (2008)
• United Front of Principlists (2008, 2012)
• Insight and Islamic Awakening Front (2012)
• Principlists Grand Coalition (2016)
• Service list (2017)

Media

• Kayhan
• Resalat
• Vatan-e-Emrooz
• Abrar
• Yalasarat
• Partow-e Sokhan
• Rajanews

See also

• Anti-American sentiment in Iran
• Calls for the destruction of Israel
• Death to America
• Death to Israel
• Iranian pragmatists
• Iranian reformists

Notes

External links

• Media related to Principlists of Iran at Wikimedia Commons