With the Iranian public's growing discontent with moderate President Hassan Rouhani, the country's Reformists are trying to keep him at arm's length. But this has done little to appease voters who blame most of the government inadequacies in recent years on the political behavior of the Reform movement.

The last litmus test for Reformists came in 2017 when they took over city council seats in the capital Tehran and other major constituencies after landslide victories in local polls held in parallel with the presidential vote.

But criticism was already there even in the run-up to the elections against the Reformists' proposed list of candidates, known as the List of Hope, enthusiastically endorsed by the movement's leader, Mohammad Khatami, who urged the nation through widely circulated video messages to write all the names of Reformist candidates on the ballot papers. However, it turned out later that inclusion on the list had not been based necessarily on the movement's common criteria. There were even claims that some individual candidates had offered bribes in their effort to squeeze themselves into the list. This created some level of public distrust concerning the listed names.

On the other hand, the latest political and executive background of some candidates in the proposed list dealt a heavy blow to the Reformist camp's political image and resume. As opposed to what they portrayed themselves as being, those candidates proved little adherence to the original ideals of Iran's Reform movement once they secured their seats.