Trump’s stance helps boost party agenda

Iran’s hard-liners are hoping they can benefit from the election of US President Donald Trump, arguing that their own country needs a tougher leader to stand up to an American president whose administration has put the Islamic Republic “on notice.”

They say it’s time for a “revolutionary diplomacy” to confront the US after four years of a more conciliatory policy under moderate incumbent President Hassan Rouhani.

Hard-liners feel energized by the Trump administration’s repeated criticism of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The agreement found little support among the group, who feel Iran gave too much away in exchange for too little in the way of sanctions relief.

The US president’s tough talk on Iran plays into hard-liners’ hands too, reinforcing anti-American sentiments they can use to rally their base.

A group of hard-liners banded together late last year to form the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces, which is assessing more than a dozen potential candidates. But with less than two months to go before the May 19 election, they have yet to settle on one to run against Rouhani.

One potential candidate, Mohsen Rezaei, a former chief of the elite Revolutionary Guard, has lashed out at the administration for lacking revolutionary spirit—tough words in a country that prizes the heroes of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that created the current governmental system.

“A group (of officials) has become hopeless and tired while trying to find a prescription for problems outside the revolutionary framework,” he said.