This only makes sense if you ignore all surrounding context. Why did khamenei ban nuclear weapons, impose missile range restrictions, spend billions on foreign armed groups, and constantly antagonize the whites while insisting on domestic enrichment, completely neglected domestic military development, abandoned all proxies instantly, and backed down from every military conflict with the whites as soon as possible? These are the actions of the world's most pathetic and incompetent leader in history or the deliberate actions of a foreign agent designed to destroy Iran. He lets reformists run rampant destroying everything because those are his orders from his handlers, and he can avoid the blame to stay in power and continue to destroy things. They did not need to let reformists run a candidate, but they did and they continue to do so intentionally.