adminIran’s new president Hassan Rouhani is set to be publicly inaugurated when he takes the oath of office in parliament, which according to local media reports will be attended by 10 presidents and other senior foreign officials. The ceremony in parliament was due to take place yesterday, a day after Rouhani was formally endorsed by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, in a ceremony that was attended by top Iranian figures including outgoing president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and foreign dignitaries.
Saturday’s ceremony came after Rouhani expressed solidarity for the Palestinian people in a speech marking Quds day, an annual event in Iran held in support of the Palestinian people and opposing Israel’s control of Jerusalem.
Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.
Rouhani, a relatively moderate cleric who won the 14 June presidential election by a significant margin and ran on a platform that included a promise to follow a “path of moderation” in international affairs and to ease restrictions on Iranian civil liberties.
His election has raised hopes that Iran and the US can solve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.
But Iran expert Hamid Dabashi said a change in approach is needed from the US, as well. “Already there are many indications that he will be drastically different. No flamboyant statements, no rash decisions, no regional or international belligerence, at least at the rhetorical level.”
However, Dabashi added, “it takes two to tango”.
“The ‘Western world’ too needs to drop its ideological and rhetorical language and deal with Rouhani on equal footing,” he said. “The Iranian presidency is neither all-powerful, nor entirely powerless.
“We need to think of the Islamic Republic in terms of the ruling apparatus which includes the military, intelligence, security, and clerical establishment and their collective will to survive — rather than a single-minded supreme leader calling all the shots.”
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the toughest package of sanctions yet, targeting Iran’s oil exports.
For millions of Iranian voters who elected Rouhani, the past decade has been marked by steadily declining living standards due to a deepening economic crisis exacerbated by sanctions. — Al Jazeera
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo