Finally, in late 1998, a series of connected assassinations known as the “chain murders” took place quickly, exposing the intelligence ministry’s role in the decade-long serial killings. On September 15, 1998, Supreme Leader Khamenei called on the judiciary to rein in press outlets that abused freedom of the press.

(L-R) President Mohammad Khatami and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Source: Wikipedia Commons

With his major foreign policy goal of outreach to the U.S. stalled and his program of social liberalization imperiled by a reactionary backlash, Rafsanjani feared the balance of power in Iran shifting too far in favor of the hardline principlist conservatives. On the eve of the 1996 majles elections, Rafsanjani announced the creation of a new political organization, the Executives of Construction, which advocated for entrepreneurship and economic liberalization over revolutionary zeal.

Despite the burgeoning power struggle, in June 1993, Rafsanjani handily won a second term as president, although his share of the vote shrunk from 95 percent in 1989 to 63 percent. Voter participation dropped precipitously from 70 percent to 56 percent, indicating frustration with Rafsanjani’s failure to deliver economic benefits and the broader failures of the Islamic Republican system to achieve social and political reform.

The majles elections led to the first major realignment of Iranian politics under Khamenei’s Supreme Leadership. Following its resounding defeat through largely anti-democratic means, the left’s focus turned toward reforming the Islamic Revolutionary system, emphasizing democracy, greater transparency in government, and respect for human and civil rights.

The ailing Ayatollah Khomeini was embittered by the war's end and was loath to see his revolutionary ardor give way to a spirit of pragmatism. The end of the war removed the pretext of a national security emergency.

In August 1985, President Ali Khamenei handily won reelection for a second term, prevailing over two other IRP candidates permitted to run with 85 percent of the vote. Immediately following his successful reelection bid, Khamenei’s first order of business was an ill-fated attempt to sack his rival Mousavi, which touched off the largest political crisis in Iran since the removal of Banisadr four years prior.

Concurrent with his administration’s efforts to solidify Khomeinist political and cultural hegemony by crushing MEK and university opposition to clerical rule, Khamenei’s first term was also notable for the conduct of the Iran-Iraq War. Despite diverting significant attention to suppressing internal unrest, dealing with the spate of assassinations of multiple prominent IRP officials, and contending with an economic crisis, the government was able to marshal sufficient resources to turn the tide of the war in the early years of Khamenei’s presidency.

In December 1984, the Committee on the Cultural Revolution was formally institutionalized as an arm of the state by a decree by Khomeini.