When talking about politics in contemporary Iran, Western media tend to divide the Iranian political sphere into two distinct hemispheres, namely the “Reformists” and the “Hardliners.” In this division, the Reformists are supposed to be the “good guys” and the Hardliners the “bad guys.” Here I am going to tell you why this division is misleading. Not that it is completely nonexistent. Rather, the manner of its application by Western media and the implications it makes are misleading. There is indeed a difference between the Reformists and the Hardliners. The difference is that they belong to two major classes of the Islamic Republic. It is not necessarily the core ideology, but personal affiliation and power politics that make the difference. Simply put, while the Reformists belong to the Khomeinist faction, the Hardliners belong to the Khameneist faction of the Islamic Republic. To clarify, those who call themselves Reformists...(Read Full Article)