The Guardian Council’s confirmation of the disputed June 12 election results has limited the options of reformists who have tried to work within the constraints of the Islamic Republic, says former student leader Ali Afshari. “They have closed any possibility for change inside the regime,” says Afshari, a former Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy:
For now, [he suggests], the best compromise that dissenting politicians can hope for may be some positions in [incumbent President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad’s cabinet. [Failed presidential candidate] Mousavi is unlikely to be allowed much activity, Afshari said, adding that those seeking change will have to work outside the system, possibly with a new generation of leaders.
“They’ll be definitely more radical but peaceful, like what we had in the Islamic revolution,” he believes. “After the shah closed all windows for reform, that’s when people went to a revolutionary role.”
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