Hassan Rowhani re-elected president

Mr Rowhani navigated his country past the economic crisis, reducing inflation and stabilising currency exchange rate

Moderate Iranian leader Hassan Rowhani has racked up a resounding, well-earned victory against conservative forces in Friday’s presidential election.

Perhaps the most impressive part of his election triumph is the popularity that he commanded among both the urban and rural voters, who have previously been under the sway of conservatives.

By the time all the ballots were counted, Mr Rowhani polled 58.6 per cent of the votes against his hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi’s 39.8 per cent. The huge margin of Mr Rowhani’s victory means that Mr Raisi cannot put down his loss to manipulation or rigging. There were many in Iran who had predicted his re-election ever since he launched his poll campaign in February this year. This was a far cry from his wobbly start in the summer of 2013. Iran’s economy was on the ropes and the threat of hyperinflation was very real. There was also the delicate matter of reaching a nuclear accord with the West in exchange for ending the sanctions against Tehran. Mr Rowhani navigated his country past the economic crisis, reducing inflation to 10 per cent from a perilous 40 per cent and stabilising the currency exchange rate. Despite stern warnings and criticism from the powerful clerics, he was able to clinch a nuclear deal for Iran. His government attracted some foreign investment, maybe not as much as he would have liked to, but nevertheless significant enough. Under his watch, oil imports doubled as a consequence of the nuclear agreement.

Without breaking what some call his embedded relations with the country’s security establishment, the Iranian president has been able to spearhead the cause of moderation and modernisation almost imperceptibly. He delivered a clear and potent message to his compatriots during the election campaign that Iran was no longer a place for “those practising violence and extremism” and that their era was well and truly over”.

In the weeks and months ahead, the Iranian leader will find his administration uniquely placed to press for domestic reforms and more freedoms — even though it will set him on a collision course with the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who enjoys veto powers. No elected leader, not even Mr Rowhani, can come out of that unscathed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2017.

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