Reformists call for Iran’s constitution to be altered

A number of Iranian reformists issued a strongly-worded statement calling for a change in the country’s internal and foreign policies to “save Iran” amid the “very critical” circumstances it is going through.

The statement, which was translated by Arabi21, includes criticism of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and their influence on the political arena.

“The military [IRGC] controls all the country’s institutions and works as a parallel administration alongside [President] Rouhani’s administration,” the statement read.

“Iran’s foreign policies are risky because of their [the IRGC’s] interference in the country’s foreign policy,” it added.

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Signatories include Saeed Hajjarian, a political scientist and former intelligence officer, and Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, former spokesman of the Iranian government under president Muhammad Khatami who ruled from 1997 to 2005.

The statement demands the Iranian constitution be reformed, noting that it was drafted in 1979 in the wake of the Islamic Revolution and that it does not ensure adequate “transparency” and clarity.