Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the harshest expressions in criticizing the regime and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in recent years, to the extent that he once described the Revolutionary Guards as the “smuggling brothers”, referring to their export and import away from the government’s control, and his criticisms reached the level of the guide with clear insinuations. However, for a while he suddenly chose silence and did not take any position rejecting or supporting the protests that are sweeping the country from one end to the other and entered its fourth month.
These stances prompted the “Insaf News” website to search for the reasons behind the silence of those who were declaring their position on all the country’s issues and expressing extremist positions. Abbas Amirifar, one of the fundamentalist figures who was previously close to Ahmadinejad and later defected from him.
For fear of house arrest and hope for the Expediency Discernment Council
Amiri Far says: “I have not communicated with him for several years, but I know that after he expected the imposition of house arrest on him and waited for him to obtain a seat in the Expediency Council, he spoke to the (political) forces close to him not to take any position in any way in the sedition.” The last (continuing protests), and apparently, he told them: not to take a position .. neither in favor of nor against the regime.
“In my opinion, they think it is appropriate for them to come to the polls in the next presidential session or before it for the parliamentary elections,” Amirifar said.
“Ahmadinejad’s team does not believe in the system and the guide”
And when “Insaf News” asked him: “Do you mean that they took this position in order not to be excluded and not to lose their current position in the Expediency Council?” He emphasized, “Yes, in fact, this is their policy. They do not believe in the system and the guide at all. According to my analysis, they have a plan for the elections. They have a silent plan for the parliamentary elections, and they want to enter the presidency with all their might. Their analysis is that this government will fail.”
In response to a question about the position of the protesters towards Ahmadinejad in the event of announcing his support for them, “Abbas Amirifar” denied that the former president could gain the support of the protesters, and said: “The rioters will attack him, as we have heard here and there from them that Ahmadinejad is one of the culprits in the current situation.” , explaining that if Ahmadinejad’s team supports the protests, this will facilitate their arrest, and the attack on their offices in Welanjk and Narmak (in Tehran).
And what about the reformers?
In this interview, “Amiri Far” referred to the positions of the reformist movement on the protests, which he described in the interview as “riots.” He said: “Despite their many criticisms of the regime, the reformists also took a stand against the riots, when they saw that the rioters wanted to question all Thing”.
In response to a question by “Insaf News” about how to confront the protesters, according to the point of view of Ahmadinejad’s team, given the rapprochement between him and Ahmadinejad in the past, he said: “They are waiting for the end of these riots to announce their positions and ride the wave, and some reformists will practice the same method, and since The parliamentary elections are near, so everyone will speak or criticize in order to attract part of the demonstrators, so that they have a role in the elections. I believe that Ahmadinejad and his team are looking for a way out with the end of the riots.
He added, saying: “The collective opinion of Ahmadinejad’s team is that people no longer tend to reformists or fundamentalists, but rather they are looking for a third line, and we are the third line, so people will tend to us.”
And during his response to the question of “Insaf News”: “Do you think that special limits have been set for Ahmadinejad’s statements?” He said: For Ahmadinejad it is not like this, as his ban was before the election of members of the Expediency Council, but when he remained silent before that for a period of time. Time, and personalities such as Hassan Rouhani or Nategh Nouri (from the council) were removed. This was a message to Ahmadinejad, that if you remain within the system, we will not interfere with you.
Abbas Amirifar said in conclusion: “Ahmadinejad will not listen to anyone, he is silent only for his own interests, otherwise they will be deleted and even eliminated forever, so they told themselves to remain silent in order to preserve this meager hope and our electoral future. This is, of course, their naive analysis.”
He tries to wear the mantle of moderation
In this context, Al-Monitor highlighted Ahmadinejad’s positions and wrote in this regard: The silence of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad since the beginning of the internal protests in Iran on September 16 is very interesting. After his term ended in 2013, Ahmadinejad moved cautiously to paint a new public image. For the same, it is characterized by liberal stances, a conciliatory foreign policy, and tolerant views on women’s rights.
Kamran Bokhari, director of analytical development at the Institute for New Lines for Policies and Strategies, told Al-Monitor, “Ahmadinejad is trying to wear the mantle of moderation, but at the same time he realizes that he cannot rebel against the regime. With regard to the protests, he is in a difficult situation, as he wants to benefit from The current situation, but he also realizes its limitations, because the demonstrators will not support him because of his past.