Iran: A reformist roars into power
Moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani took more than 50 percent of the vote over five conservative rivals. Will he change Iranian policy?
We Iranians have shouted “a big No to extremism and radicalism,” said Hoseyn Alahi in Etemaad. The stunning first-round election of moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani, who took more than 50 percent of the vote over five conservative rivals, was a clear demonstration that Iranians “reject coercion, extremism, violent conflicts, and critical remarks.” After two terms of the abrasive rhetoric and policies of outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran is increasingly isolated in the world, crippled by economic sanctions and soaring inflation. The people “want to open a way toward moderation,” and electing Rouhani shows that “preserving the dignity and credibility of the people need not mean being in conflict with the world.”
We have sent a message that the reform movement is still strong, said Mohammad Sadr in Sharq. The endorsements of our two most moderate ex-presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, ensured Rouhani’s win, and guaranteed the respect of the international community. The world can trust the new president to “seek a rational solution, searching for ‘win-win’ agreements” on Iran’s nuclear programs that will get the sanctions lifted while preserving Iran’s interests.
The reformists are getting ahead of themselves, said Hossein Shariatmadari in Kayhan. Rouhani doesn’t owe his victory to some swell of support for the discredited Green Movement that disrupted the peace after Ahmadinejad’s 2009 re-election. No, he profited from a chance confluence of factors, including the sputtering economy and the split in the hard-liner vote. And let’s not forget that, “contrary to the propaganda of the external enemy and their domestic followers, the policies of the system will not change” under Rouhani. He was only elected president, after all; Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei still sets our foreign policy.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In fact, what this election really showed was the people’s allegiance to the supreme leader, said Amir Hoseyn Yazdanpanah in Khorasan News.The huge turnout—more than 72 percent—was a mark of “obedience to the supreme leader’s call to protect the Islamic system by going to the polls.” While the region is burning with “flames lit by the U.S. and its allies,” and while Iran is under intense pressure from U.S. economic sanctions and threats of war, Iranians came together to show that our political system is just and fair.
Yet there’s cause for hope that Rouhani will change Iranian policy, said Smadar Peri in Yedioth Ahronoth (Israel), and it rests on one word in his victory speech: “Israel.” While Ahmadinejad preferred epithets like “the small Satan,” or “the occupier thug,” or just “the Zionist enemy,” Rouhani chose to call Israel by its official name, “perhaps as a reconciliatory step toward the West.” Deeds matter more than words, though, said Boaz Bismuth in Israel Hayom (Israel). The West mustn’t be fooled into lifting sanctions just because the Iranian president has a soothing way of talking. A truly moderate Iran? “That’s the stuff of science fiction.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Cicada-geddon: the fungus that controls insects like 'zombies'
Under The Radar Expert says bugs will develop 'hypersexualisation' despite their genitals falling off
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published