The Principlists (, ), also interchangeably known as the Iranian hardliners, Iranian Conservatives Open access material licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. 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 Year Candidate(s) Votes % Rank1997Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri7,248,31724.872001Ahmad Tavakkoli4,387,11215.582005/1 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad5,711,69619.432ndMohammad Bagher Ghalibaf4,095,82713.934th Ali Larijani1,713,8105.836thTotal11,521,33339.192005/2Mahmoud Ahmadinejad17,284,78261.692009 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad24,527,51662.631st Mohsen Rezaee678,2401.733rd Total25,205,75664.362013 Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf6,077,29216.562nd Saeed Jalili4,168,94611.363rd Mohsen Rezaee3,884,41210.584th Ali Akbar Velayati2,268,7536.186th Total16,399,40344.682017 Ebrahim Raisi15,835,79438.282nd Mostafa Mir-Salim478,2671.163rd Total16,314,06139.442021Ebrahim Raisi18,021,94572.351st Mohsen Rezaee3,440,83513.812nd Total21,462,78086.162024/1 Saeed Jalili9,473,29840.382ndMohammad Bagher Ghalibaf3,363,34014.343rd Mostafa Pourmohammadi206,3970.884thTotal13,043,03555.602024/2Saeed Jalili13,538,17945.24

Parliament Exclusive seatsElection±20002004 1422008 12012 112016 982020 1352024 22

Parties and organizations + Society of Pathseekers of the Islamic Revolution Association of Islamic Revolution Loyalists Fadayeen of Islam Society Ansar-e Hezbollah Front of Islamic Revolution Stability Resistance Front of Islamic Iran Progress and Justice Population of Islamic Iran Modern Thinkers Party of Islamic Iran YEKTA Front Green Party Combatant Clergy Association Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom Islamic Coalition Party Islamic Society of Engineers Islamic Association of Physicians of Iran Islamic Society of Students Islamic Society of Employees Islamic Society of Athletes Zeynab Society Society of Devotees of the Islamic Revolution Development and Justice Party

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

References

External links