Deviant current

Current of Deviation
جریان انحرافی
LeaderEsfandiar Rahim Mashaei
Founded2011
Preceded byCoalition of the Pleasant Scent of Servitude
Public relations wingHavadarn-e Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Electoral listMonotheism and Justice Front (2012)
Supporters of Justice Discourse of Islamic Revolution (2012)
Political partyYEKTA Front
IdeologyNational conservatism
Iranian nationalism
Populism
Shia Islamism
ReligionShia Islam
National affiliationIranian principalists
Islamic Consultative Assembly
14 / 290
Website
Dolat-e Bahar (lit.'Government of Spring')
Rais Jomhur-e ma (lit.'Our President')

The "deviant current" or "current of deviation" (Persian: جریان انحرافی, romanizedJarīān-e Enherāfī) is a term used by Iranian officials (e.g. high-ranking clerics, Revolutionary Guards commanders)[1] and conservative rivals[1] of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to describe Ahmadinejad's entourage,[2] which functions like a faction[3] or party.[4] Ahmadinejad had some tendency toward Iranian nationalism that deviated from the clerics' theocratic rule, hence top clerics labeled the faction associated with him as "deviant current".[5]

The term was coined in 2011, after an open conflict between Ahmadinejad and the Supreme leader Ali Khamenei.[6][7]

  1. ^ a b Elling, Ramus Christian (2012). "Matters of Authenticity". In Nabavi, Negin (ed.). Iran: From Theocracy to the Green Movement. Springer. p. 94. ISBN 9780230114692.
  2. ^ Golnaz Esfandiari (19 May 2011), "Decoding Iran's Official Political Glossary", Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, retrieved 15 August 2017
  3. ^ "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: the deviant president", The Guardian (Editorial), 20 September 2011, retrieved 15 August 2017, This year, if Ahmadinejad represents any faction in Iran it is one that has been branded "a deviant current".
  4. ^ Abdollah Almasi (29 April 2013), "Ahmadinejad's Plans for the Presidential Election", Iran's View, retrieved 15 August 2017, The Government's critics believe that Esfandiar Rahim Mashaee who is the head of a party, which they label as "Deviant Current".
  5. ^ Torbat, Akbar E. (2020). Politics of Oil and Nuclear Technology in Iran. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-3-030-33765-0.
  6. ^ Alem, Yasmin (2016). "Electoral Politics, Power, and Prospects for Reform". In Brumberg, Daniel; Farhi, Farideh (eds.). Power and Change in Iran: Politics of Contention and Conciliation. Indiana Series in Middle East Studies. Indiana University Press. p. 177. ISBN 9780253020796.
  7. ^ Ehteshami, Anoushiravan (2017). "Politics of the Islamic Republic". Iran: Stuck in Transition. The Contemporary Middle East. Taylor & Francis. p. 90. ISBN 9781351985451.