In his most recent speech, Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran warned that “if people are disappointed with reform, the overthrow mindset might gain grounds and the anti-regime forces might succeed.”

Khatami then praised the supreme leader for his strategy that he called “yes to resistance, no to war” and described the U.S sanctions against Leader Ali Khamenei as a “cheap act” and said after the attack against the U.S drone, there is now ground for unity among different factions of the Islamic Republic.

Mohammad Khatami also referred to the country’s conditions and foreign pressure and the possibility for success of the anti-regime forces that are known as “overthrowers” and said: “If people lose faith in reform, gradually the overthrowing mentality will take hold and God forbid, they might succeed. Therefore, we must respond to people and even if the reformists cannot do anything, they must let people know.”

Regarding the amount of criticism that the reformists are facing for their positions especially after the mass protests of January the former president said: “The society has questions about the actions of the regime, the reformists, and other factions. The government and the parliament must explain to people what steps they have taken toward reform. The government and the reformists must be responsible.”

He declared that the reform principles are alive, but the reform discourse has some issues that have led to its dysfunction within society.

Khatami is likely referring to the fact that during the mass protests of 2018, one of the main chants by the people was “reformist, fundamentalist, your game is over”.