Rightist movements in Europe are on the rise, and Donald Trump has astoundingly hijacked the American conservatives’ platform. Yet at the same time thousands of miles farther in Iran, the radical right has had a hard time reaching out to the Iranian people. The irony is that while rightist politics has gained momentum in different parts of the world, the Iranian brand of right, especially since the last parliamentary elections in February and April of 2016 has lost its influence.
About three years after electing a centrist candidate, Hasan Rohani, as the new president of the country, Iranians went to the polls to elect representatives of the tenth parliament (Majlis Shoray-i Islami) as well as the fifth Assembly of Experts (Majlis-i Khobregan).
Although the Guardian Council (Shoray-i Nigahban) disqualified numerous candidates from both sides of the political spectrum, especially from the reformist camp, the conventional election’s run-up turned out to be contentious and the results surprising.