IF ONLY W HAD REACHED BACK:

With the protests sweeping Iran entering their third month, Iranian officials are now formally reaching out to Reformists in hopes of quelling the unrest. 

According to Tasnim News Agency, Secretary General of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani held a meeting on Dec. 4 with various political figures in the country, including Reformist figures such as Behzad Nabavi, Gholam Hossein Karbaschi, Hossein Marashi, Abbas Abdi and Masoumeh Ebtekar. According to the article, this is part of a series of monthlong meetings held with various figures in the country, including meetings with artists, students and other notable figures in the country. 

The meetings are taking place in order to reach out to the various groups who have been excluded from the political process in recent years, either through arrest or through bans from running for office. One of the problems for the Islamic Republic, however, is that the current protests are not being led by Reformists, nor are Reformists even protesting in the streets. Reformists operate within the overall vision of the Islamic Republic, and the mostly young protesters with no connections to Reformists want the end of the government in its entirety.

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