Hojatoleslam Hassan Rowhani, moderate among Iran’s clerics who rule the country in all but name, was elected Iran’s President on Saturday by trouncing hardline and conservative rivals aligned to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, and securing over 50 per cent of the vote.
The runaway win reflected the mood of the country. It brought promise of change in all aspects of life — in personal and social life cramped by hardline administrators bent on imposing harsh religious injunctions, in the economy through moderation of policy that may lead to the loosening of international sanctions, and in foreign policy by advancing negotiations with the West on the vexed nuclear issue.
Eight years of conservative crusader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the only non-cleric President so far, looked like having placed the country in a psychological straitjacket as well. The crushing electoral victory of the moderate cleric sent its signal to the clerical establishment too. Ayatollah Ali Khameini lost no time in congratulating the President-elect and called him the “President of the whole nation”.
Mr Rowhani had been Iran’s nuclear negotiator with the West before Mr Ahmadinejad took charge as President. His stewardship had ended Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme for a time. This has raised hopes in the United States of at least a moderate tone in nuclear negotiations. Any progress, however, will probably depend on both countries making adjustments. Iran’s policy towards India, which had recovered from a cool patch, may be expected get a boost under a moderate leadership.