The "deviant current" or "current of deviation" ( fa, جریان انحرافی, Jarīān-e Enherāfī) is a term used by Iranian officials (e.g. high-ranking clerics, Revolutionary Guards commanders) and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

rivals of

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

to describe Ahmadinejad's entourage which functions like a faction or

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

. Ahmadinejad had some tendency toward

Iranian nationalism Iranian nationalism Persian: ملی‌گرایی ایرانی Baloch: راج دوستی ایرانی Kurdish: نەتەوە پەروەریی ئێرانی Gilaki: ایجانایی ایرانی Azerbaijani: İran millətçiliyi Turkmen: Eýranyň ...

which 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: *

Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei ( fa, اسفندیار رحیم‌مشایی; born 16 November 1960) is an Iranian conservative politician and former intelligence officer. As a senior Cabinet member in the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ...

, described as the leader of the movement * Hamid Baghaei * Mohammad Reza Rahimi * Ali Nikzad * Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi * Mohammed Sharif Malekzadeh * Mohammad Aliabadi * Ali Akbar Javanfekr * Abdolreza Davari, senior media figure in presidential administration * Habibollah Joz-e-Khorasani, financial affairs director of the presidential administration *

Abbas Amirifar Hojjatoleslam Abbas Amirifar (born 1957) is the prayer leader of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and head of the presidential cultural committee. He was arrested in May 2011 on charges of "sorcery", after he produced a controversial film pred ...

, cleric, head of the cultural committee of presidential administration * Kazem Kiapasha, presidential aide * Bahman Sharifzadeh, cleric * Abbas Ghaffari, allegedly Ahmadinejad's personal exorcist *Ali Asghar Parhizkar, executive director of the

Arvand Free Zone The Arvand Free Zone with an area of 37,400 hectares is at the confluence of the Karun and Arvand (Shatt al-Arab) rivers. The Zone is located at a height of three meters above sea level and in proximity to Iraq and in the north west of Persian G ...

*Alireza Moghimi, executive director of the Aras Free Zone *Parivash Satvati, widow of

Hossein Fatemi Hossein Fatemi ( fa, حسین فاطمی; also Romanized as Hoseyn Fātemi; 10 February 1917 – 10 November 1954) was an Iranian scholar. A close associate of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, he proposed nationalization of Iranian oil and gas ...

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 Comparative politics is a field in political science characterized either by the use of the '' comparative method'' or other empirical methods to explore politics both within and between countries. Substantively, this can include questions relat ...

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 Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

, populist and the

principlist Principlism is an applied ethics approach to the examination of moral dilemmas that is based upon the application of certain ethical principles. This approach to ethical decision-making has been adopted enthusiastically in many different professio ...

rhetoric. The tendency tries to nationalize Shiite Islamism, and advocates an “Iranian School of Islam” which 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 The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad who ...

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 Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

team organizes various websites, including (), () and ''Meydan-e Haftadodo'' (, 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 Monotheism and Justice Front: Supporters of the Government ( fa, جبههٔ توحید و عدالت - حامیان دولت) was an Iranian conservative electoral list for the 2012 legislative election. They were linked to Esfandiar Rahim Masha ...

, 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 The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) is a non-profit independent research group established in 1971, that has released reports and position papers on various Middle East conflicts This is a list of modern conflicts in the M ...

stated that they won 14 seats in the first round of elections.

References

{{Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Persian words and phrases Political slurs Political terminology of Iran Political metaphors 2010s neologisms Mahmoud Ahmadinejad