Reformist women politicians said at a meeting on Sunday that they urged Iran’s top security official, Ali Shamkhani, to pursue reforms and change the constitution.
Azar Mansouri, secretary-general of the National Unity Party, a coalition of so-called reformists, was told by local media that she and others had been invited to Sunday’s meeting by the secretary of the National Security Council, Shamhani. . She didn’t name the other participants, but she can be sure that many were also reformist politicians.
Mansouri said he urged President Shamkhani to initiate short-, medium- and long-term reforms of the government out of the current political crisis.
The female politician also called for an end to sanctions against Iran and policies to help end the current economic crisis, and she said “40 million people” could take to the streets.
The Islamic Republic’s leaders should first admit their mistakes and “close the gap with the people” by listening to their grievances, Mansouri told Shamkhany.
The hardliners in charge of Iran’s governing institutions have repeatedly said there can be no constitutional change or “back from principle”. Evoking the specter of constitutional change and forming a potentially unpredictable parliament will no doubt be seen by hardliners in the regime as a challenge to the principle of having a supreme leader and the person of Ali Khamenei .
Ali Shamkhani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council
Iranian reformers have long pursued the idea that the Islamic republic can be reformed and have been accused by opponents of the regime of giving false hope to the people. Over the past two months some reformers have admitted that their ideas have been proven wrong. Because the extent of deadly violence and unspoken atrocities against protesters has proven its inability to reform the regime itself.
In fact, young protesters hardly understand the difference between hardliners in the regime and reformers who want gradual change but want to keep the Islamic Republic alive. All slogans and announcements by protesters demand an end to clerical rule.
But by her own account, Mansouri also said something annoying to the regime. First, she supported the memory of all those killed in her post-September protests. She also told Shyamkhani that if the administration wants to hold meetings with politicians as an attempt at wind dressing and as a tool, the whole idea must fail. Arguments for should be based on “strategic rationale”.
But she was also cautious in her approach by not referring to the absolute powers Ayatollah Khamenei wielded or raising the question of identifying those responsible for killing hundreds of civilians.
She also did not call for an immediate end to the compulsory hijab and reminded Shamkhani that having a “morality police” was a bad idea. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed, she said.
But she said, what has Islamic society achieved that makes Iranian women “proud to wear the hijab?”
Despite these statements, many still view reformist talks with security officials as non-cue. Gestures of , will also be over, and clergy and military rulers will return to what they know best: relying on force to monopolize power.
