In the aftermath of the June 7 terrorist attacks in Tehran claimed by the Islamic State (IS), Iranian Reformists and moderates have sought to overcome the heightened factional divisions lingering from the recent presidential elections. Indeed, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Mohammad Reza Aref and Mostafa Tajzadeh among many other Reformist politicians have called for national unity. In contrast, conservative and hard-line politicians have not missed the opportunity to target their rivals. Even as bullets were flying inside parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a political offensive against moderate President Hassan Rouhani kicked off. Rather than a cause for national unity, the attacks in Tehran marked the beginning of a new bout of political infighting.

The easiest and most vulnerable target for hard-liner attacks is anyone who opposed Iranian involvement in Syria. Indeed, conservatives have used the Tehran attacks to reiterate once again that if Iran had not been involved in Syria and Iraq, it would’ve been fighting IS in the streets of the Iranian capital on a daily basis. Noteworthy among these voices is Ahmad Tavakoli, a conservative former member of parliament. In a tweet amid the terrorist attacks on June 7, Tavakoli lambasted Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the Reformist former mayor of Tehran, for his remarks on April 30 denouncing Iranian military engagement in Syria and advocating a solution based on political negotiations.

Another pivotal theme of hard-line rhetoric has been the strident defense of the role of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in protecting the country. The IRGC was fiercely criticized by Rouhani during the recent election campaigning over their ever-increasing involvement in the Iranian economy as well as interference with foreign policy and domestic politics. Ironically, instead of questioning the IRGC over their flagrant failure in preventing the infiltration of terrorists into parliament in the heart of Tehran, the IRGC has been heralded as heroes on state-run TV and in the conservative media.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and Rouhani’s efforts to engage in regional diplomacy have additionally been targeted. Kayhan, the hard-line daily whose editor-in-chief is appointed by the supreme leader, has condemned the United States for its purported support of the terrorists while criticizing Rouhani’s emphasis on constructive engagement with the world, writing in an editorial on June 10, “The events of the Wednesday [June 7] removed the facade of the Americans and exposed their true nature to the [Iranian] people. … Was Daesh [IS] not created during the [2013-15] nuclear negotiations?”