The term hardliners that some western sources use in the Iranian political context usually refers to the faction,[15] although the principlist camp also includes more centrist tendencies.
[17] Within Iranian politics, "principlist" refers to the conservative supporters of the Supreme Leader of Iran and advocates for protecting the ideological "principles" of the Islamic Revolution's early days.
They are more religiously oriented and more closely affiliated with the Qom-based clerical establishment than their moderate and reformist rivals".
[19] A declaration issued by The Two Societies, which serves as the Principlists' "manifesto", focuses upon loyalty to Islam and the Iranian Revolution, obedience to the Supreme Leader of Iran, and devotion to the principle of Vilayat Faqih.
[22] In April 2021, a joint public opinion survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and IranPoll found out that 19% of Iranians identified as Principlist while 7% were leaning Principlist, and if Reformists (21%) and leaning Reformist (10%) were still higher, they also noted that "the support base for the reformists has shrunk by about 8 percentage points since 2017, while the support base for the conservatives has grown by 4 percentage points.