President Hassan Rouhani expressed gratitude for the reformist faction's strong support for his administration in a meeting with a group of pro-reform activists in Tehran on Wednesday.
"I have regarded and still regard reformist allies as associates of my administration," he was quoted as saying by the president's official website.
He stressed that under the present critical situation, the country needs to look beyond reformism, fundamentalism and other similar political persuasions because all parties need to join hands to help achieve common goals.
Iran's reformist groups explicitly offered support for Rouhani both in the 2013 presidential election when he was running for his first term of presidency and in the 2017 ballot when he fought off a serious challenge by principlists to retain his office for another four-year period.
In 2013, the rival reformist candidate Mohammad Reza Aref opted out of the election in support of Rouhani, a move which is widely believed to have helped him earn a large number of votes.
The president even selected his First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri from among reformists in both his terms. Jahangiri also stood for presidency in 2017 but quit days before the election in a tactical move to boost Rouhani's share of the ballot.
>Perceived Disenchantment
Recently, however, criticisms have time and again been voiced by reformists about Rouhani's performance, interpreted by domestic media as their disenchantment toward the president.
At the meeting, representatives of the political faction reiterated their views, pointing out what they believed were the government's flaws.
The president thanked participants for their concerns, affirming that his administration is not faultless.
"The government is not free from weakness or shortcomings but has had great achievements in various areas as well, which need to be explained to the public," he said.
Rouhani has long boasted about the nuclear deal that his government managed to strike with the six world powers in 2015 after two years of intensive negotiations.
But the US withdrawal from the accord in May and reimposition of its sanctions have spoiled his victory. He took the opportunity at the meeting to underline that his administration's wise policies after the US withdrawal have "saved the country from a great danger".
"If Iran had not reacted prudently, the countries that are standing by us today would be confronting us," he said.
Other parties to the pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, have remained committed to the pact.
"The JCPOA would have been lost even before America's withdrawal if it hadn't been for the government's efforts."
He also cited the world court's recent vote in favor of Iran as an example of his government's successful strategy.
"Although the United States will most likely refuse to obey the order, it is a victory for Iran to be able to condemn America in an international body," he said.
As a result of Iran's proceedings in July, the International Court of Justice issued a ruling on Wednesday, ordering the US to lift any measure arising from its sanctions against Tehran, which would restrict humanitarian trade and civil aviation safety.
Rouhani mentioned Iran's successful appearance in the United Nations General Assembly last week that, according to him, had become a platform for Iran-US confrontation.
"There is no one that would deem US the triumphant side of this battle," he said.
He called on the audience to take notice of the complicated situation that the country is facing today.
"Iran is in the middle of a full-scale economic war … Expectations must be in proportion with the unusual and sensitive conditions of the present day," he said.
>Fruitful Meeting
Reformist activists endorsed the improvement in Iran's relations with the world as Rouhani's major success regarding its foreign policy and highlighted the need to preserve global interaction.
Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, a prominent reformist in the session, later described the meeting as fruitful in a talk to IRNA.
"Rouhani announced his administration's need for reformists' help and they reaffirmed their support for the government," he said.
Asgharzadeh added that reformists asserted that they are not pursuing factional interests and realize that the government only has the power to address some of the current problems.
"Due to its weakness in establishing relations with the public, Rouhani feels the need for reformists' help and explicitly declared that the faction should not cut off its support," he said.
