Iran is involved in a debate regarding the essence and nature of the Islamic regime, though the six years of reform efforts by moderate president Mohammad Khatami and his attempts to liberalize the regime have been thwarted by a conservative backlash. Despite this the reformists have acquired new leaders with new strategies to alter the nature of the state, leading the president to abandon attempts at achieving a compact with the conservatives and to reaffirm his objective of securing constitutional rule. The revitalized reform movement of frustrated parliamentarians, disenfranchised young people, the middle class, and disillusioned clerics is now challenging the fundamentals of the Islamic Republic, demanding that religion accede to accountability, pluralism, and the rule of law. US policy toward Iran is deemed to be counterproductive, as support for regime change by the people is likely to undermine the reform movement and strengthen the clerical reaction, and demonstrates a lack of understanding of Iranian internal politics.
