“They’re Turning the Country into Hell”: Senior Cleric Warns Iran’s Hardliners Are Derailing Post-War Unity

According to SAEDNEWS, Mohammad Taghi Fazel Meybodi, a senior cleric and member of the Assembly of Scholars and Researchers of Qom Seminary, has sounded the alarm over the growing influence of radical elements within Iran’s political establishment. In an interview this week, Fazel Meybodi blamed hardliners for undermining the fragile cohesion forged during Iran’s recent war period and called for structural reforms to restore balance in governance.

“In a time when national unity is most essential, radicals impose heavy costs on public welfare through reckless, inflammatory behavior,” he said, highlighting the damage caused by ideological extremism—particularly from clerics and MPs aligned with the hardline camp.

Fazel Meybodi also pointed to systemic issues, notably the exclusion of qualified candidates and the appointment of unfit individuals to critical roles. “We must look for the roots of our crises in the sidelining of capable figures and the promotion of incompetence,” he said.

He criticized the radicals’ domination of parliament and their intrusion into media and diplomatic affairs, referencing incidents such as the attack on the Saudi embassy and their infiltration of state broadcasting. “They have no regard for the country’s struggles. It’s as if they’re building hell for the people,” he remarked.

Urging electoral reform and pluralism, Fazel Meybodi insisted that competition among all political currents would empower citizens to choose credible leaders—and sideline those whose radical rhetoric threatens to erode Iran’s international credibility and internal stability.