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Reformist Hassan Rohani Wins Landslide Victory in Iranian Elections
17 June 2013
A Report by Hussein Askary EIR Sweden. June 16—Hassan Rohani won an outright majority of the votes and was declared President-elect of the Islamic Republic of Iran, making a second round unnecessary. The elections were held in a calm atmosphere and there have been no challenges to the result from conservative candidates. In the last elections in 2009, the second round between reformist Mir-Hossein Musavi and President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad led to tensions and eventually to riots and destabilizations, including operations backed and run by British intelligence, that threatened the whole nation. Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said on Saturday that Rohani won an outright majority of the votes (more than 50%). Of the 35,458,000 valid votes, Rohani won 18,613,000. Rohani ran against five other contenders, mostly conservatives, the strongest being the governor of Tehran, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who received 6,077,000 votes. The others were Saeed Jalili (Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator); Mohsen Rezaei (former Commander of the Iranian Army); Ali Akbar Velayati (former foreign minister, and reportedly the closest to Supreme Leader Aytollah Ali Khamnei); and Mohammad Gharazi (independent reformist). All the opponents were reported by the Iranian News Agency (IRNA) to have congratulated Rohani for his victory, wished him success, and "offered to help him build the nation." IRNA also stated that the contenders stated that "the real winner was the Iranian people." According to the report of the Interior Ministry, 50,483,192 were eligible to vote in the presidential elections. The turnout was 72.7 percent according to Interior Minister Najjar. Rohani received the official blessings of the Supreme Leader Khamenei, but gave credit to the Iranian people and the Iranian system for the victory. He said that "the enthusiastic participation of people in the presidential elections on Friday was a brilliant test of Iranians’ determination and an increasing political growth and people’s insistence on religious democracy." He added: "Faithful Iranians in yesterday’s elections showed their huge capacity in facing wisely the psychological war of hegemonic powers." He stressed that "the real winner of yesterday’s election were Iranian nation." More assuring that Rohani’s victory will not be challenged, was a public message of congratulations from the Chairman of the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi-Kani, sent to Rohani on Sunday. The Ayatollah also congratulated the Iranian nation on "creating a political epic on June 14." He further wished success for Rohani and his future government. It was that Assembly which excluded the other reformist candidate Hashemi Rafsanjani and many other candidates from the elections. It is the second most powerful conservative (unelected) institution after the Supreme Leader Khamenei. Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani also issued a message of congratulation to Rohani. Larijani said Rohani "can rely on people’s high turnout in the Friday election in order to solve the existing problems in the country including unemployment and rising prices." He said the Majlis (Parliament) will heartily cooperate with the new government to meet the nation’s demands. Campaign event for Hassan Rohani. CC: SaMin SAmIN There were no signs of disturbances in the streets of the capital, Tehran, or other major cities. Hundreds of supporters of Rohani gathered outside his campaign headquarters in Tehran shouting slogans of victory, but were politely asked by the police to leave the premises, as such gatherings require permission. - Assessment - While it is not clear yet what kinds of disagreements will emerge between the president and his conservative rivals in the near future, as happened with former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, it is ultimately the U.S. and European policy towards Iran as a nation, and the British ability to manipulate the U.S. and to sow discord in the region, that will determine what direction this president will take. Rohani is no outsider to the institutions of the government and revolution in Iran. He is a Mujtahid in Islamic Shia theology (a very high rank in the clergy). He has been a member of the Assembly of Experts since 1999, member of the Expediency Council (headed by Rafsanjani) since 1991, and most importantly Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council for 16 years under Presidents Rafsanjani (1989-1997) and President Khatami (1997-2005). During the second term of Khatami’s presidency, he served as the chief nuclear negotiator with the IAEA and the West from 2003 to 2005. He is an inside witness to the sabotage of these talks by the Bush and Blair governments. He published a book in Farsi on these negotiations and Iran’s nuclear policy. Rohani is supported by both Khatami’s "green revolution" that demands a real reform and modernization of the political system of Iran to become a true constitutional republic, rather than staying in a hybrid state between elected institutions and non-elected theological institutions (without challenging the excessive power of the supreme leader), and the Rafsanjani faction which is a more liberal, free-trade-oriented elite. The election of Rohani, and by a landslide too, is a big surprise for all observers and even the Iranian people. All efforts by the Ahmedinejad government and conservative institutions were directed to exclude and discredit the reformist candidates. The fact that the landslide vote went to the only reformist candidate, shows that even the pro-conservative people (mostly poor) are longing for a real change of economic conditions. President Ahmedinejad came with the promise of helping the poor and reforming the corruption of the Bazaar-merchant dominated economy, but achieved very little, as inflation soared and the government was forced both to push more austerity and remove state subsidies for food and fuel. Of course, these conditions were imposed by U.S. and European economic sanctions, but Ahmedinejad’s provocative tone and often insane statements against Israel and the West, made things worse in the eyes of the Iranian people. Rohani has recently focused on the economic issues, although little is known to this author of the details of his economic program, as Rohani’s official website has been blocked (rouhani.ir). In recent public remarks, he said that his priority is to combat unemployment and the effects of the economic sanctions imposed on Iran. However, one interesting sign of his thinking about the impact of large-scale infrastructure, is a major project to refill the drying Uromia lake (saltwater lake) by building a canal from the Caspian Sea. Supporters of Rohani recently sent this campaign website to this author (http://www.urmiacampaign.com/) demanding support from the public, and claiming that this would be one of the first large- scale economic projects Rohani would undertake if elected president. Rohani is also a supporter of nuclear power and technology, although he stated recently that building new nuclear plants "should not come at the expense of the economy and the well-being of the population," a somewhat populistic statement which seeks to indicate that he is more focused on alleviating the current economic difficulties of the people rather than on future plans. As stated above, the direction in which Washington moves, either with the British Empire for a WW III starting in Southwest Asia and Syria specifically, or with Russia to find a peaceful way out of the current tragedy to a world order based on peace through the economic system, will determine the policies of every government in the region, including Iran. From 1997 to 2005, the West had everything they could possibly hope for from Iran, in the person of a great president (ranked as a philosopher), Khatami, who initiated the Dialogue of Civilizations and was open to every possible American diplomatic move that preserved for Iran its sovereignty and independence. But that did not prevent the British Empire from sabotaging every move he made. With the 9/11/2001 Anglo-Saudi assault on the USA, and the following series of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, every initiative Khatami had worked for was dismantled.[HUS] |