Iranian President-elect a moderate, with unknown ability to reform

“The people will be the owners of the country” was the campaign slogan of Iranian cleric Hassan Rowhani, the country’s newly elected president, though it remains to be seen if the President-elect will be able to make good on that promise.

Rowhani, the reform candidate, won more than 50 percent of the vote to replace current Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week. The president-elect is considered a centrist or pragmatic conservative who promises more freedoms and more open communications with the rest of the world. It was a surprise result, but is it a rebuke— or even a challenge — to religious authorities who hold the real power in Iran?

Rowhani will succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who won re-election in 2009 amidst widespread reports of fraud and has become increasingly unpopular in Iran as he clashed with Ayatollah Khamenei, the country’s true leader, over religious power.

“Mr. Ahmadinejad had become politically toxic,” said Reza Marashi, research director at the National Iranian American Council. “It was very difficult to advance diplomatic process with somebody who had spewed the kind of rhetoric that he did.”

Ahmadinejad was elected as a reaction to Mohammad Khatami, who’s aggressive approach to instituting changes stymied his efforts to challenge religious authority. It appearsRowhani’s election is in response to Ahmadinejad’s own aggressive policies. 

Former European diplomats who have negotiated with Rowhani, widely called the Diplomatic Cleric, have characterized him as tough but fair and somebody the west can and should do business with, Marashi said.

Because the real power in Iran lies with Khamenei, though, reforms are unlikely to happen quickly, Marashi said.

“I think we need to temper our excitement and understand full well that while Mr. Rowhani is not going to be able to deliver things overnight, he also is not incapable of delivering,” Marashi said.

Rowhani has stated his intention to improve relations with the United States as long as Iranian domestic issues, including its nuclear program, remain uninterfered.

“This is the best opportunity that Washington has had since Barack Obama entered the White House and it would be a massive missed opportunity if the opportunity is not seized,” Marashi said.

Rowhawi will take office on Aug. 3.