Rouhani Advisor: “Hardliners Lie and Cheat”

President Rouhani’s clerical affairs advisor has lashed out at hardliners, accusing them of corruption and not having the country’s best interests at heart.

In an interview with the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) on February 10, Mostafa Derayati said those who criticized the Rouhani administration and its policies were often doing so to protect themselves. Derayati accused politicians and conservative media of trying “conceal the government’s achievements from the public” when it came to Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

“The philosophical approach of hardliners is to create conflicts,” he said, adding that they had a tendency to do so when the political climate was relatively calm. “They try to divert public opinion by circulating rumors and creating confusion and havoc. If they had any religious or national concerns, they would not plunder public properties, they would not lie, insult and damage revolutionary resources.”

When commenting on cultural and religious issues, said Derayati, hardliners “use religious culture as their shield to cover up own their own failures and inadequacies.”

The Iranian public was becoming increasingly aware, he said, of these “corrupt” tactics, despite hardliners’ attempts to “conceal the truth” and “create unrest.” 

Read the original article in Persian