Iranian hard-line conservatives are planning to exclude moderate-leaning conservative parliament Speaker Ali Larijani from their ranks.

In the past three months, conservatives have formed a new group called Shaja (Coalition of the Revolution), hoping to reclaim parliament from the Reform movement coalition in the February election.

The Reformists — and the Reformist-backed government of President Hassan Rouhani — have lost much of their social capital because, critics say, its parliamentarians haven't fulfilled their promises of political and civil rights reforms. The party is also accused of economic mismanagement in the face of US sanctions, following Washington's departure from the 2015 nuclear deal.

Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, a senior conservative figure and general-secretary of the Principlist Islamic Society of Engineers political group, said conservatives expect to win parliament. “The atmosphere in the society is such that the public is prepared to vote for [conservatives], and we should attract people’s votes with our coalition," he said at a July 5 meeting of the society.