Hezbe Kargozaran party of Iran is viewed in Iran as a reformist political group in Iran. ‎Hedayat Aghai is a leadership member of the party who talked to Rooz about current ‎events in Iran including the June 2009 presidential election. He believes that the problems ‎of Iran are now so massive that the 2009 presidential election should be looked at as an ‎event of “national salvation.” Read on for the details.‎

Rooz (R): Who is the Kargozaran’s candidate of choice for next year’s presidential ‎election?‎

Hedayat Aghai (HK): Our position has always been that if someone like Khatami - who ‎has national appeal and acceptance in the international community - comes forward, our ‎party would most certainly support him.‎

R: Is it possible that Kargozaran would present its own presidential candidate?‎

HK: We do not have our own special candidate, but we have proposed a roadmap that has ‎been approved by reformist groups. We believe in a democratic process and desire to ‎come to a consensus on that.‎

R: It appears that the process that you mention is a contingency for a time when Khatami ‎may not be in the political arena? Is that right?‎

HK: If Khatami comes forward then reformist groups will unite. Even now over 90 ‎percent of reformist parties support Khatami.‎

R: Have you at Kargozaran talked about the conditions under which Khatami should not ‎run for election?‎

HK: A lot of talk has taken place but we have not reached a specific conclusion. We have ‎talked about criteria and have proposed these to the workgroup.‎

R: Give me a few examples.‎

HK: The first criteria is about reason. The damage that we have suffered from the ninth ‎administration (i.e. Ahmadinejad’s government) is because this government does not act ‎on reason. In other words the administration may have good intentions but because of its ‎totalitarianism and disregard of the views of specialists, it has hurt the country. So our ‎first criteria is that the next president must accept team work, the social good and group ‎work. The next criteria is that he must deeply believe in democracy. ‎

R: If Mr. Khatami does not enter the race, who would you support from amongst Karoubi ‎and Nouri?‎

HK: If Mr. Nouri enters the race then the whole direction, positions and dynamics of the ‎race would change. Kargozaran would most likely support him. But I personally doubt ‎very much that Mr. Nouri would run as a presidential candidate.‎