TEHRAN, Iran — With the country only a year away from its next presidential vote, Iranian political factions are combing their ranks for the strongest possible candidates.

In the previous presidential election, in 2013, the Reformists had only one candidate: Mohammad Reza Aref. At that time, successful candidate Hassan Rouhani was also described by some news outlets and analysts as Reformist to repeated criticism from Aref, who reiterated, “I don’t describe Rouhani as Reformist.” He was right. Rouhani’s base has always been different from that of Aref’s.

Rouhani is a prominent member of the conservative Combatant Clergy Association, which was founded two years before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Today, the association is a highly influential group within the conservative camp and plays a decisive role in the shaping of coalitions with other conservative factions ahead of every election.

Throughout the past decades, Rouhani has been a protege of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pragmatic conservative who is now seen as a moderate pillar of the Islamic Revolution. Indeed, Rafsanjani’s political trajectory can be greatly helpful in understanding Rouhani’s thinking. The incumbent Iranian president is a progressive-minded politician who has held sensitive positions throughout his career over the past 37 years.