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Bijan Moomeyvand

In about four months, elections for the eight Majlis will be held in Iran. Ali Reza Rajai is ‎a prominent journalist and researcher who received the necessary votes to become a ‎member in the sixth Majlis, but was denied that right. Rooz held an exclusive interview ‎with Rajai discussing the relationship between the group knows as the national-religious ‎faction and the ruling political group. Read on for the discussion.‎

Rooz (R ): The group known as the national-religious faction were driven out of power in ‎Iran in early 1980s, and then mostly refrained from taking part in any elections. But they ‎changed their approach and some registered to participate in the fifth Majlis elections. ‎Later, during the reform period they concluded that they had to be present in the political ‎domain and elections of the country. How did they come to this conclusion?‎

Ali Reza Rajai (ARR): The national-religious movement is made up of different groups. ‎So one cannot reach the conclusion that each or the whole movement has interpreted ‎events in the same fashion since the victory of the 1979 revolution. Still, if one was to ‎make some observable conclusions, it would be possible to say that they had never ‎concluded to always and categorically stay away from elections. Most of the times they ‎made the decision on how to deal with an upcoming elections on the basis of the ‎conditions prevalent at the time, and whether their participation would be productive or ‎not. Sometimes their members registered as candidates for public office, and some were ‎disqualified by elections agencies, which made them feel that perhaps they should not ‎have applied in the first place. After the victory of Mohammad Khatami to the presidency ‎‎(in Iran known as the 2 Khordad Movement in 1997) the atmosphere to participate in ‎elections became more favorable and the national-religious movement, along with others, ‎welcomed it. ‎

R: In their confrontation with the state, the national-religious groups have stressed that ‎they would operate within the existing legal framework, even though they questioned it. ‎In other words respect for law even though the law was not fully accepted. Elements ‎within the state however did not accept this to be honest and accused them of trying to ‎instigate a “soft” overthrow of the regime. What can the national-religious groups do in ‎this atmosphere of distrust and accusation?‎

ARR: We really do not know how to pass the current situation. Political activity has its ‎own logic and this is not confined only to the national-religious groups. We have ‎repeatedly said that respect for law is not an ideological issue: it is a necessity. Outside ‎the political sphere and in our normal daily life, we accept the principle of the rule of law, ‎even though we may not agree with many of specific rules and regulations because we ‎have to. They rule over us. But when a legislature or an elections supervisor goes beyond ‎the necessity to observe the law and injects the idea that you must also believe in it, then ‎this is going against the constitution of the country and is in fact imposing a way of life, ‎an ideology and a belief on somebody else. The problem is that supervisory institutions in ‎the Islamic Republic of Iran expect us to believe in their values and way of thought. This ‎is not acceptable. We believe that we should not have to lie (to believe in their values) in ‎order to get into the power structure and political institutions of the country. If we do not ‎believe in something, we should be allowed to keep that. The second point is that nobody ‎has the right to ask anyone what their beliefs are and then use our beliefs in our political ‎activism. ‎

R: If we get a free elections environment and the national-religious groups manage to ‎freely participate in the elections, do you have sufficient operational and executive forces ‎to form a government or a power faction in the Majlis?‎

ARR: The national-religious groups believe they do. At the same time I would like to add ‎that a coalition government too can solve many problems. So a government with ‎national-religious sentiments, and not necessarily a government that is formed by those ‎who call themselves national-religious groups, can exist if utilizes and lets all groups in ‎society with these sentiments to participate in it. So it can use individuals who do not ‎claim to be members of the national-religious groups, but certainly have national ‎capabilities and dedications. The important thing is to use all forces, regardless of their ‎beliefs, so that many Iranian elite in any cultural and social domain, can participate in the ‎political power structure. In short, Iran is for all Iranians, not just a group with a specific ‎ideology or beliefs.‎