Has Trump’s victory revived presidential chances for Principlists? Affirmative.

A number of observers have noted that Donald Trump’s presidency will likely render hardliners in Iran more powerful. Speculations are already under way in Iranian moderate and pro-reform media outlets that Trump might serve as a unifying factor in the long divided Principlist camp still unable to reach consensus on a single candidate that could challenge Hassan Rouhani’s reelection in the next year’s presidential race.

Previously frustrated over what seemed to be a void of campaigning strategy, motto, and candidate, the Principlists seem to view Trump’s win as a new lease of life, now that prospects for the implementation of the nuclear deal are dimmed. A prominent Principlist decision-maker Gholamali Haddad Adel has recently expressed hope that the camp could reach an agreement on their strategy for the upcoming presidential election.

For the most part, it seems, the excitement comes from Trump’s stance against the nuclear deal. As moderate website Fararu has aptly noted, bellwether Principlist Hossein Shariatmadari who runs hardliner Kayhan daily has tried to foil his excitement following Trump’s upsetting victory, arguing in an editorial piece that the Reformists’ apprehension of Trump is not genuine. In what has been considered as a Principlist chorus response to Trump, the opponents of the deal are calling on him to abandon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which is, to quote from Shariatmadari, ‘a mere loss’ for the Iranian part. Shariatmadari and probably his like-minded peers leave their only avenue of escape open, in case Trump leaves the nuclear deal as it is. “Trump is wiser that to rip up the JCPOA, a document prepared and passed completely in the interest of the United States, to ignore one of the biggest and most profitable US achievements in the course of nuclear talks with Iran,” Shariatmadari adds.

Reformist politician Ahmad Shirzad, who served as an MP in the notoriously Reformist-dominated sixth parliament, acknowledges that Trump’s election will affect the direction and implementation of Iran’s foreign policy, but says Iran could prevent the reemergence of an international consensus against itself through a blatant but logical approach in the face of Trump’s radicalisms. Implicitly referring to the rhetoric used by excited Principlists, he told Farau that appeasement to Trump and concessions over the JCPOA is against national interest and prudence. “Such remarks will ultimately encourage Trump, making him advance in his encroachment of Iran’s interests,” he added.

Vali Esmaeil, a member of the Principlist central council, says the camp’s plan have changed given the international changes Trump victory could trigger. Dismissing reports of presidential bids from Ahmadinejad’s cohort, including Gholam-Hossein Elham and Rostam Ghasemi, he told Asr Iran that the Principlists will announce their final decision within a month. “Given the [recent] shifts in the international scene and those expected in the European Union, we should introduce a new version [as candidate] that has the capacity to handle the situation,” Esmaeili said.

With Trump’s rise to power and his likely hostile approach towards Iran, there are renewed efforts to sell Ahmadinejad as Iran’s best option against the US president-elect. In an effort to raise the possibility of change in Supreme Leader’s recommendation against Ahmadinejad’s candidacy, the latter’s advisor Abdolreza Davari posted a message on his Telegram channel, saying the expediency behind any ruling is subject to change when conditions also differ, implying that the Trumpization of America could alter the Supreme Leader’s veto of Ahmadinejad’s running for the presidential post.

Chances seem to have been renewed for other former presidential candidates, namely Saeed Jalili and Bagher Qalibaf. Mohammadreza Bahonar, a leading moderate Principlists close to Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, has taken back his remarks that denounced the candidacy of those who have lost once. Former MP Hossein Sobhaninia has also welcomed the possibility, saying a new face will need much time to make his views known to the public.

A Tehran University international relations professor tells pro-reform website Entekhab that partisan line-up in Iran has been resembling that of the United States since former President Mohammad Khatami put forward the notion of reform. Ghassem Eftehari draws on the hawk/dove dichotomy in US politics, saying it is little surprise that a Republican US presidential candidate is advocated by Delvapasan, ‘The Solicitous’, a self-proclaimed title later used mockingly to refer to radical Principlists in Iran.

“The solicitous in Iran and Russia have made an alliance in backing Trump, enabling them to collaborate more closely,” Entekhab quoted Eftehari as saying. “For the time being, they will welcome Trump.”