# Iranian principlists

The Principlists (Persian: اصول‌گرایان, romanized: Osul-Garāyān, lit. 'followers of principles or fundamentalists'), also interchangeably known as the Iranian Conservatives and formerly referred to as the Right or Right-wing, are one of two main political camps in post-revolutionary Iran; the Reformists are the other camp. The term hardliners that some western sources use in the Iranian political context usually refers to the faction, although the principlist camp also includes more centrist tendencies. The faction rejects the status quo internationally, but favors domestic preservation.
Within Iranian politics, "principlist" refers to the conservative supporters of the Supreme Leader of Iran and advocates for protecting the ideological "principles" of the Islamic Revolution's early days. According to Hossein Mousavian, "The Principlists constitute the main right-wing/conservative political movement in Iran. They are more religiously oriented and more closely affiliated with the Qom-based clerical establishment than their moderate and reformist rivals".
A declaration issued by The Two Societies, which serves as the Principlists' "manifesto", focuses upon loyalty to Islam and the Iranian Revolution, obedience to the Supreme Leader of Iran, and devotion to the principle of Vilayat Faqih.
The Principlists currently dominate the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Assembly of Experts, as well as non-elective institutions such as the Guardian Council, the Expediency Discernment Council, along with the Judiciary.
They held the Presidency until the inauguration of Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian on 30 July 2024.

## Demographics

According to a poll conducted by the Iranian Students Polling Agency (ISPA) in April 2017, 15% of Iranians identify as leaning Principlist. In comparison, 28% identify as leaning Reformist.
In April 2021, a joint public opinion survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and IranPoll found out that 19% of Iranians identified as Principlist while 7% were leaning Principlist, and if Reformists (21%) and leaning Reformist (10%) were still higher, they also noted that "the support base for the reformists has shrunk by about 8 percentage points since 2017, while the support base for the conservatives has grown by 4 percentage points."

## Factions

* Ultra conservatives—also known as neoconservatives. This grouping is more aggressive and openly confrontational toward the West. Many ultra or neo Principalists are laymen representing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) collectively.
* Traditional conservatives are a political faction that helped form the Revolutionary government and can point to personal ties with Ruhollah Khomeini. These conservatives support the Islamist government and advocate for clerical rule.
* Deviant current

## Election results
### Presidential elections

| Year | Candidate(s) | Votes | % | Rank |
| 1997 | Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri | 7,248,317 | 24.87 | 2nd |
| 2001 | Ahmad Tavakkoli | 4,387,112 | 15.58 | 2nd |
| 2005/1 | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | 5,711,696 | 19.43 | 2nd |
| 2005/1 | Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | 4,095,827 | 13.93 | 4th |
| 2005/1 | Ali Larijani | 1,713,810 | 5.83 | 6th |
| Total | Total | 11,521,333 | 39.19 | Runoff |
| 2005/2 | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | 17,284,782 | 61.69 | 1st |
| 2009 | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | 24,527,516 | 62.63 | 1st |
| 2009 | Mohsen Rezaee | 678,240 | 1.73 | 3rd |
| Total | Total | 25,205,756 | 64.36 | Won |
| 2013 | Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | 6,077,292 | 16.56 | 2nd |
| 2013 | Saeed Jalili | 4,168,946 | 11.36 | 3rd |
| 2013 | Mohsen Rezaee | 3,884,412 | 10.58 | 4th |
| 2013 | Ali Akbar Velayati | 2,268,753 | 6.18 | 6th |
| Total | Total | 16,399,403 | 44.68 | Lost |
| 2017 | Ebrahim Raisi | 15,835,794 | 38.28 | 2nd |
| 2017 | Mostafa Mir-Salim | 478,267 | 1.16 | 3rd |
| Total | Total | 16,314,061 | 39.44 | Lost |
| 2021 | Ebrahim Raisi | 18,021,945 | 72.35 | 1st |
| 2021 | Mohsen Rezaee | 3,440,835 | 13.81 | 2nd |
| Total | Total | 21,462,780 | 86.16 | Won |
| 2024/1 | Saeed Jalili | 9,473,298 | 40.38 | 2nd |
| 2024/1 | Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | 3,363,340 | 14.34 | 3rd |
| 2024/1 | Mostafa Pourmohammadi | 206,397 | 0.88 | 4th |
| Total | Total | 13,043,035 | 55.60 | Runoff |
| 2024/2 | Saeed Jalili | 13,538,179 | 45.24 | 2nd |

### Parliament

| Exclusive seats | Election | +/- |
| 54 / 290 (19%) | 2000 | |
| 196 / 290 (68%) | 2004 | 142 |
| 195 / 290 (67%) | 2008 | 1 |
| 184 / 290 (63%) | 2012 | 11 |
| 86 / 290 (30%) | 2016 | 98 |
| 221 / 290 (76%) | 2020 | 135 |
| 199 / 290 (69%) | 2024 | 22 |

## Parties and organizations

| Society of Pathseekers of the Islamic Revolution Association of Islamic Revolution Loyalists Fadayeen of Islam Society Ansar-e Hezbollah Front of Islamic Revolution Stability Resistance Front of Islamic Iran Progress and Justice Population of Islamic Iran Modern Thinkers Party of Islamic Iran YEKTA Front Green Party | Combatant Clergy Association Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom Islamic Coalition Party Islamic Society of Engineers Islamic Association of Physicians of Iran Islamic Society of Students Islamic Society of Employees Islamic Society of Athletes Zeynab Society Society of Devotees of the Islamic Revolution Development and Justice Party |

### Alliances

* The Two Societies (Unofficial)
* Front of Followers of the Line of the Imam and the Leader (founded in the 1990s)
* Coordination Council of Islamic Revolution Forces (founded 2000)
* Front of Transformationalist Principlists (founded 2005)
* Resistance Front of Islamic Iran (founded 2011)
* Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces (founded 2016)

#### Electoral

* Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran (2003, 2004)
* Coalition of Iran's Independent Volunteers (2004)
* Coalition of the Pleasant Scent of Servitude (2006)
* Principlists Pervasive Coalition (2008)
* United Front of Principlists (2008, 2012)
* Insight and Islamic Awakening Front (2012)
* Principlists Grand Coalition (2016)
* Service list (2017)

## Media

* Kayhan
* Resalat
* Vatan-e-Emrooz
* Abrar
* Yalasarat
* Partow-e Sokhan
* Rajanews