Saeed Hajjarian (Persian: سعید حجاریان, born 1954) is an Iranian reformist political strategist,[3] journalist,[4] pro-democracy activist and former intelligence officer.

[5] After the revolution, Hajjarian was involved in the formation of the intelligence apparatus of the newly founded Islamic Republic.

That was where he played an essential role in creating a new discourse based on democracy and the rule of law for his generation of revolutionaries.

He was believed to be the source of information for many articles written by investigative journalists, Akbar Ganji and Emadeddin Baghi.

[12][13][14] His assailant, Saeed Asgar, a young man reportedly a member of the Basij militia, was later arrested and sentenced to spend 15 years in jail.

[17][18] His attempted assassination is thought to be associated with the exposure of the "Chain murders" in his Sobh Emrouz daily newspaper and the "key role" he is believed to have played "in bringing about ... damaging disclosures," both as the editor of the exposing newspaper and one of the few reformists likely to be a source of information about activity in the intelligence ministry.

"[19] Hajjarian has used the term "dual sovereignty" as an analytic tool to describe the balance of power in the Islamic Republic's government system, in which there is a supposed split between the Supreme Leader and popularly elected officials, e.g. the President.

The idea was publicly denounced by Ali Khamenei in 2004, being called "damaging and a deadly poison" repeated by "irrational people".

Hajjarian argued that the domination of politics by clerics was wrong but could be gradually eroded by "mobilizing the masses and using them as bargaining chips with Iran's rulers.

In this context, he argues, it is possible to reassess velayat faqih and to reject its supremacy within the political field in Iran.

[25] After reformists lost their "fortresses", Hajjarian said in 2004 that the reforms program have been failed and now there are multiple choices for the Iranian people.

According to the reformist Shargh Daily, enthusiasm for the speech was so great that seats were filled up hours before the event.

[33] In a note he gave to a student to read, Hajjarian stated that the 1997 presidential election were the reformists prevailed were the first since the 1979 Iranian revolution in which there was "a competition", and that it "institutionalized" competition in the presidential elections, and introduced a new debate on the issues of religion, economics, and other foreign and domestic policies.