Deviant current

Current of Deviation
جریان انحرافی
Jarīān-e Enherāf
LeaderEsfandiar Rahim Mashaei
Founded2011
Preceded byCoalition of the Pleasant Scent of Servitude
Public relations wingHavadarn-e Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Electoral list
Political party
Ideology
Political positionFar-right
Factions:
Left-wing
ReligionShia Islam
National affiliationPrinciplists
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, romanized: Jarīān-e Enherāfī) is a term used by Iranian officials (e.g. high-ranking clerics, Revolutionary Guards commanders) and principlist rivals of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to describe Ahmadinejad's entourage, which functions like a faction or party. 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".

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

People

People who have been described as associated with the "deviant current" include:

Mojtaba Khamenei who is the current Supreme Leader of Iran was affiliated with Ahmadinejad, however not with the group.

Ideology

The faction is described as "nationalist conservative" by Stratfor; also described as "neo-conservative nationalists" by Pejman Abdolmohammadi, assistant professor in Middle Eastern studies at University of Trento and Giampiero Cama, professor of comparative politics at University of Genova. According to Bernd Kaussler, assistant professor of political science at James Madison University, their ideology is a combination of millenarian, nationalist, populist and the principlist rhetoric. The tendency tries to nationalize Shiite Islamism, and advocates an “Iranian School of Islam” that seems antagonistic toward the Velayat Faqih, an idea that formed the basis of the current establishment in Iran. Ahmadinejad and his associates have regularly used the word "spring" and the phrase "Long live the spring" as a slogan, which is believed to have connotations for the Arab Spring, although Ahmadinejad claims it refers to the reappearance of Imam Mahdi.

Organization

A group is active under the acronym HOMA (standing for Havadarn-e Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Persian, meaning "Supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad") and published an online newspaper with the same name. The public relations team organizes various websites, including Dolat-e Bahar (lit. 'Government of Spring'), Rais Jomhur-e ma (lit. 'Our President') and Meydan-e Haftadodo (lit. 'Square 72', named after the neighborhood Ahmadinejad lives in) among others. They maintain online activity elsewhere, running many blogs and social media accounts.

Electoral performance

2012

Monotheism and Justice Front, a group that endorsed a list of candidates for 2012 parliamentary elections is reportedly linked to Mashaei. The results showed a major defeat for them in the elections, and they only won 9 seats, according to Deutsche Welle.

2013

In a Medvedev/Putin-style scenario, Mashaei ran for president in 2013 presidential election backed by Ahmadinejad, who said "Mashaei means Ahmadinejad and Ahmadinejad means Mashaei". He was disqualified by the Guardian Council.

2013 local elections were the next defeat. The faction were unable to secure a seat in Tehran City Council and even Parvin, Ahmadinejad's sister was unseated.

2017

In 2017 presidential election, Ahmdinejad who backed Hamid Baghaei, registered as a candidate along with him, but both were disqualified.

2020

Candidates associated with the circle ran on a list for 2020 parliamentary elections, although Ahmadinejad himself did not support any specific list. Middle East Research and Information Project stated that they won 14 seats in the first round of elections.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 The "deviant current" is considered a radical or hardliner even within the far-right Principlist faction, but is also referred to as "left-wing" due to economic populism influenced by Third World socialism. Ahmadinejad however saw himself as neither right nor left, but for a Third Stream. Ahmadinejad often built an incendiary anti-Israel rhetoric, and critics are criticising them for their links to Western antisemitic far-right (particularly neo-Nazi) propaganda.

References

  1. ↑ "Ahmadinejad Gone, Ahmadinejadism Stays". iranwire.com.
  2. ↑ Ziabari, Kourosh (19 April 2014). "Ahmadinejad is Gone, and so is Ahmadinejadism!".
  3. ↑ James Reynolds (24 November 2010). "Why some Iran conservatives are turning against Ahmadinejad". BBC News. President Ahmadinejad represents the ultra-conservatives - a populist movement led by pious, austere veterans of the Iran-Iraq War.
  4. 1 2 "Iranian president Ahmadinejad is identified with Messianism, one of the factors contributing to the further radicalization of the regime but also challenging the rule of the mullahs". terrorism-info.org.il. 4 March 2007. Even though President Ahmadinejad is associated with Messianism, it still carries little weight in the Iranian regime. However, should it gain ground and begin to influence Iran's decision-making, coupled with a strengthening of Ahmadinejad's status and that of the ultra-conservative faction, it is possible that Iran's inner consensus will shift in a religious-ideological direction that will further radicalize its policy.
  5. ↑ "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Ahmadinejad is widely considered to be a religious, ultra-conservative Islamist, with a commitment to an agenda of economic populism and sociopolitical conservatism, bearing ample resemblance to the Taliban's.
  6. ↑
  7. 1 2 3 "Iran: Implications of Ahmadinejad's Parliamentary Defeat". Stratfor (Assessment). 5 May 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  8. 1 2 Tahreem Shahid; Muhammad Shoaib Jamil (2025). "The Dynamics of Right-Wing Populism: A Comparative Study of Political Leadership and Institutional Impact in Pakistan and Iran". Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review. 9. doi:10.47205/plhr.2025(9-IV)09.
  9. ↑ Ray Hanania (26 September 2007). "President Ahmadinejad and the Distortions of Politics". Arab News. Though not a great speaker, Ahmadinejad clearly established himself as an Islamist, spending most of his initial remarks ruminating about religion and Islamic philosophy.
  10. ↑ Rory Carroll; Sibylla Brodzinsky (25 July 2007). "The Holocaust denier, the radical socialist, and their axis of unity". The Guardian. They make for an odd couple. Hugo Chávez, big and bear-like, is a radical socialist who quotes Marx, leads a largely Catholic country and has a habit of breaking into song. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, bird-like in comparison, is a radical Islamist who quotes the prophet Muhammad and is not readily associated with fun or secularism.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Bernd Kaussler (January 2012). "Is the End Nigh for the Islamic Republic?". Current Trends in Islamist Ideology. Washington, D.C.: Hudson Institute.
  12. ↑ Ali M. Ansari (2007). Iran Under Ahmadinejad: The Politics of Confrontation. Routledge.
  13. ↑ "New Iranian president among 1979 captors: hostages". CBC News. 30 June 2005.
  14. ↑ Meir Javedanfar (8 July 2011). "Ahmadinejad, Fighter". The Atlantic.
  15. ↑ "Ahmadinejad blames capitalism for poverty". NBC News. 22 September 2010. Iran's president on Tuesday predicted the defeat of capitalism and blamed global big business for the suffering of millions, but Germany's chancellor said market economies were key to lifting the world's least developed countries out of poverty.
  16. ↑ "Ahmadinejad says in U.N. address that capitalism is dying". Reuters. 22 September 2010. UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday told a U.N. General Assembly session on poverty that capitalism was on the verge of death and that it was time for a new economic system. "The discriminatory order of capitalism and the hegemonic approaches are facing defeat and are getting close to their end," Ahmadinejad said at a summit meeting assessing progress on achieving U.N. goals to drastically reduce poverty by 2015.
  17. ↑ David Kampf (11 March 2009). "Collapse of Capitalism". Foreign Policy Association. Archived from the original on 14 January 2026. Retrieved 23 March 2026. In a speech to regional leaders during a summit of the 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad argued capitalism is on the verge of collapse. "After the collapse of the closed socialist economy, the capitalist economy is also on the verge of collapse," Ahmadinejad said in a speech. "The liberal economy and the free market have failed," he said, pointing to the use of "thousands of billions of dollars" to bail out Western banks and companies.
  18. ↑ "Iranian President Denounces Capitalism On Cuba Visit". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 12 January 2012. On a visit to Cuba, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad denounced capitalism as bankrupt and called for a new world order. Ahmadinejad also held a private meeting with President Raul Castro and was expected to meet with Fidel Castro.
  19. ↑ Ram (6 April 2009). "Ahmadinejad rips capitalism". iranfocus.com. AFP: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out on Monday at capitalism as a "false" economic system and called for the creation of a new global financial order.
  20. ↑ "Ahmadinejad says capitalism is on verge of death". Tehran Times. 22 September 2012. "Discriminatory order of capitalism and the hegemonic approach are facing defeat and getting closer to the end," Ahmadinejad told a summit meeting assessing progress on achieving UN goals to drastically reduce poverty by 2015. Ahmadinejad called on world leaders, thinkers, and global reformers "to spare no effort" to make practical plans for a new world order, AP reported.
  21. ↑ Soheil Asefi (3 February 2012). "Ahmadinejad, an anti-imperialist - really?". opendemocracy.net. Archived from the original on 10 June 2025. Retrieved 24 March 2026. The President of the Islamic Republic denounced capitalism during a speech on the third leg of his trip to forge friendships with his Latin American allies, most of them thorns in Washington's side.
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ Golnaz Esfandiari (22 June 2006). "Iran: Mahmud Ahmadinejad -- Fascist, Or Man Of The People?". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Mahmud Ahmadinejad, the hard-line mayor of Tehran, is one of the two candidates competing in the second round of Iran's presidential election on 24 June. His supporters praise him for living a simple life and being a man of the people with good management skills. They also say he is a true follower of Islamic values. But his opponents call him a "fascist " who favors segregation of the sexes in public and say that his presidency would stop the reform process.
  24. ↑ Victor Davis Hanson (30 April 2006). "The End of Days". Hoover Institute. As a Third World populist, Ahmadinejad expects that his own fascism will escape scrutiny if he just recites enough times the past sins of the West. He also understands victimology. So he also knows that to destroy the Israelis, he—not they—must become the victim and that the Europeans must be the ones who forced his hand.
  25. ↑ Patrick Clawson (30 June 2005). "Next Generation". Archived from the original on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2026. Last week, Iranians elected a proto-fascist as president. The rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, formerly the mayor of Tehran, was a blow to the vibrant reform movement that swept Mohammed Khatami to the presidency in 1997. Ahmadinejad's extreme social conservatism—which bears plenty of resemblance to the Taliban's—and his economic populism have thus far dominated the Western media's coverage of the results, and understandably so.
  26. ↑
  27. ↑ Ervand Abrahamian, ed. (23 August 2018). A History of Modern Iran. Cambridge University Press. pp. 190–195.
  28. ↑ Asef Bayat, ed. (August 2017). Revolution without Revolutionaries: Making Sense of the Arab Spring. Stanford University Press. pp. 62–65.
  29. ↑ Eva Rakel, ed. (30 November 2008). Power, Islam and Political Elite in Iran. Brill. pp. 48–52.
  30. ↑
  31. 1 2 Reuel Marc Gerecht (22 September 2010). "Why Ahmadinejad Acts the Way He Does at the U.N." The New Republic. Archived from the original on 12 November 2025. Retrieved 24 March 2026. Few men who have not been created by Khamenei admire the current ruler of Iran. But Ahmadinejad does (at least more than most). He mirrors Khamenei's inner self, his revolutionary essence: the Islamic utopianism married to Iranian nationalism married to Third World socialism.
  32. ↑ John A. Tures (22 April 2009). "Rattling the Hesam: International Distractions from Internal Problems in Iran". Asian Politics & Policy. 1. Wiley Online Library: 50–78. doi:10.1111/j.1943-0787.2009.01102.x. As Middle East Institute scholar Alex Vatanka (2008) observes, "[t]he likelihood that Ahmadinejad and his far right political base in Iran can be outflanked at home." [...]
  33. ↑ Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar (6 May 2010). "Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar". Middle East Institute. Currently, President Ahmadinejad and his far right allies control Iran's executive branch.
  34. ↑ Karl Vick (27 March 2006). "Iran conservatives warn against extremes". NBC News. Nine months after the election of hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, Iranian politics has shifted so sharply to the right that some traditional conservatives are warning of the dangers of radicalism. [...] With reformists sidelined and Ahmadinejad setting a strident new tone on the global stage, figures from the extreme right of Iran's political spectrum are defining the terms of political debate in the country. In remarks that set off a domestic firestorm, a senior cleric close to the new president suggested in January that Iranian voters were largely irrelevant because the government requires only the approval of God.
  35. 1 2 Ali Sodayi (2 November 2018). "How Iran's Ahmadinejad found meaning in rap". BBC News. It was a worldview that drew him to left-wing politics and liberation movements in other countries, and to leaders like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales - often against the wishes of more traditional hardliners in the Iranian establishment.
  36. ↑ Bill Spindle (30 June 2006). "Behind the Rise of Iran's President: A Populist Economic Agenda". Yale University. TEHRAN – Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has grabbed the world's attention with his bombast over Tehran's nuclear program and saber rattling against Israel. At home, however, the president's popularity is soaring thanks to another reason: his enthusiastic embrace of economic populism.
  37. ↑ Ray Takeyh (2006). "A Profile in Defiance: Being Mahmoud Ahmadinejad". The National Interest (83): 16–21. JSTOR 42897593. Although it may be difficult for a Western audience to appreciate, Ahmadinejad's message of economic populism and nationalistic self-assertion does enjoy a level of public support, particularly among the lower classes struggling with Iran's inequalities.
  38. ↑ Nader Habaibi. ""Economic Legacy of Mahmud Ahmadinejad"" (PDF). Brandeis University. Some have described Ahmadinejad as a protégé of the Supreme Leader.2 There are many indications that Khamenei indeed approved of Ahmadinejad's populist economic views,3 and his support helped Ahmadinejad overcome resistance in the parliament to some of the programs he sought to institute.
  39. ↑ Nader Habibi (2015). "How Ahmadinejad Changed Iran's Economy". The Journal of Developing Areas. 49 (1): 305–312. doi:10.1353/jda.2015.0044. JSTOR 24241297. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the 2005 presidential election promising economic fairness. Throughout his eight-year presidency, he adopted several populist financial policies intended to fulfill his promise.
  40. ↑ Matamis, Joaquin (24 July 2023). "Reformists Struggle to Adjust to Iran's Post-Mahsa Reality • Stimson Center". Stimson Center.
  41. ↑ Kourosh Ziabari (14 August 2025). "Where on Earth Is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?". New Lines Magazine. Once the Islamic Republic's most combative face on the world stage, Ahmadinejad built a political persona based on incendiary anti-Israel rhetoric that alienated allies and deepened Iran's isolation.
  42. ↑ Lars Rensmann; Julius H. Schoeps (2011). Politics and Resentment: Antisemitism and Counter-cosmopolitanism in the European Union. Brill. p. 51. ISBN 978-90-04-19046-7.
  43. ↑ "Is Ahmadinejad Giving Germany's Far-Right Free Propaganda?". Der Spiegel. 29 May 2006.
  44. 1 2 Elling, Ramus Christian (2012). "Matters of Authenticity". In Nabavi, Negin (ed.). Iran: From Theocracy to the Green Movement. Springer. p. 94. ISBN 9780230114692.
  45. ↑ Golnaz Esfandiari (19 May 2011), "Decoding Iran's Official Political Glossary", Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, retrieved 15 August 2017
  46. ↑ "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".
  47. ↑ Abdollah Almasi (29 April 2013), "Ahmadinejad's Plans for the Presidential Election", Iran's View, archived from the original on 4 March 2016, 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".
  48. ↑ 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.
  49. ↑ 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.
  50. ↑ Ehteshami, Anoushiravan (2017). "Politics of the Islamic Republic". Iran: Stuck in Transition. The Contemporary Middle East. Taylor & Francis. p. 90. ISBN 9781351985451.
  51. 1 2 Oliver Borszik (November 2014), "Papers International Sanctions against Iran under President Ahmadinejad: Explaining Regime Persistence" (PDF), GIGA Working Papers (260), Hamburg: German Institute of Global and Area Studies, archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2015, retrieved 22 August 2017
  52. ↑ "Mohammad Reza Rahimi: The story behind the current Iranian President's First Deputy", Iranian Diplomacy, 27 August 2012, archived from the original on 10 October 2017, retrieved 17 August 2017
  53. ↑ "Ahmadinejad minister announces run for presidency", Radio Zamaneh, 31 March 2013, retrieved 15 August 2017
  54. ↑ Hooman Majd (5 October 2012), "The Great Debate: Is it Ahmadinejad's last hurrah?", Reuters, archived from the original on 5 October 2012, retrieved 15 August 2017
  55. 1 2 3 Saeed Kamali Dehghan (23 June 2011), "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ally arrested in Iran on corruption charges", The Guardian, retrieved 15 August 2017
  56. ↑ Scott Lucas (24 June 2011), "The Latest from Iran (24 June): The Net Closes on Ahmadinejad's Men....Continued", Enduring America, retrieved 15 August 2017
  57. ↑ Marcus George (26 September 2012), Stephen Powell (ed.), "Ahmadinejad's aide in prison as Iran president addresses U.N.", Reuters, retrieved 15 August 2017
  58. 1 2 Marcus George (4 June 2014), Stephen Powell (ed.), "Is Ahmadinejad plotting a comeback?", Al-Monitor, retrieved 15 August 2017
  59. ↑ Marcus George (17 November 2017), Stephen Powell (ed.), "Ahmadinejad Returns With Vengeance", Iran Wire, retrieved 15 April 2018
  60. 1 2 "Ahmadinejad faces threat to presidency in clash with Khamenei", Radio France Internationale, 7 October 2012, retrieved 15 August 2017
  61. 1 2 "Ahmadinejad warns establishment against extending arrests to cabinet", Radio Zamaneh, 29 June 2012, retrieved 15 August 2017
  62. ↑ "Iran: A conflict over authority, or a dispute over responsibilities?" (PDF), Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies (Assessment Report), Doha, May 2011[permanent dead link]
  63. ↑ Borger, Julian (22 June 2009). "Mojtaba Khamenei: gatekeeper to Iran's supreme leader". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  64. ↑ Jeffrey Fleishman (25 June 2009). "Iran supreme leader's son seen as power broker with big ambitions". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  65. ↑ Borger, Julian (8 July 2009). "Khamenei's son takes control of Iran's anti-protest militia". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  66. ↑ Jeffrey Fleishman (25 June 2009). "Khamenei's son: Iran experts say he plays key role in protest crackdown". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  67. ↑ "The Man in the Shadow: Mojtaba Khamenei". PBS. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  68. ↑ Abdolmohammadi, Pejman; Cama, Giampiero (2020). Contemporary Domestic and Foreign Policies of Iran. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 137–138. ISBN 978-3-030-45335-0.
  69. ↑ Saeed Kamali Dehghan (13 March 2013), "Ahmadinejad's new pet phrase 'spring' infuriates Iranian establishment", The Guardian, retrieved 15 August 2017
  70. ↑ Arash Azizi (5 November 2014), "Is Ahmadinejad making a comeback?", Al-Monitor, retrieved 15 August 2017
  71. ↑ Meir Javedanfar (20 April 2014), "Ahmadinejad's return may be boost for Rouhani", Al-Monitor, archived from the original on 23 August 2017, retrieved 15 August 2017
  72. ↑ Abdol Moghset Bani Kamal (2013), "The ninth Majlis elections in Iran: Electoral laws, procedures and institutions", Intellectual Discourse, 21 (1), International Islamic University of Malaysia: 71–86, ISSN 0128-4878
  73. ↑ "The Great Disappointments in the Ninth Majlis", Deutsche Welle (in Persian), 3 March 2012, retrieved 15 August 2017
  74. ↑ Saeed Kamali Dehghan (11 May 2013), "Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to stand in Iran presidential election", The Guardian, archived from the original on 23 August 2017, retrieved 15 August 2017
  75. ↑ "Reformists return to power in Iran's local elections". Asharq Al Awsat. 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  76. ↑ "Ahmadinejad formally endorses protege for president", Tehran Times, 21 March 2017, retrieved 15 August 2017
  77. ↑ "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 'disqualified' from Iran elections". Al Jazeera. 20 April 2017. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  78. ↑ "Iran Parliamentary Election Explained: who is Competing, why Does it Matter?". Radio Zamaneh. 17 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  79. ↑ Abedini, Vahid; Armin, Razieh (5 March 2020), "The Making of a "Resistance Parliament" in Iran and the Challenges Ahead", Middle East Report Online, retrieved 5 March 2020
  80. ↑ Rahimieh, Nasrin (2014). "Reviewed work: The World of Persian Literary Humanism, Hamid Dabashi". Iranian Studies. 47 (4): 655–658. doi:10.1080/00210862.2014.906209. JSTOR 24482975.