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President Hassan Rouhani pledged on Saturday to open
Iran to the world and deliver freedoms its people have yearned for,
throwing down a defiant challenge to his hardline opponents after
securing a decisive re-election for a second term. Rouhani, long
known as a cautious and mild-mannered establishment insider,
reinvented himself as a bold champion of reform during the election campaign,
which culminated on Friday in victory with more than 57 percent of
the vote. His main challenger, hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi, received
38 percent. In his first televised speech after the result, Rouhani
appeared to openly defy conservative judges by praising the spiritual
leader of the reform camp, former President Mohammad Khatami. A court
has banned quoting or naming Khatami on air. "Our nation's
message in the election was clear: Iran's nation chose the path of
interaction with the world, away from violence and extremism,"
Rouhani said.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday
he hoped newly-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will use his
second term in office to end Tehran's ballistic missile programme and
end what he called its network of terrorism. Speaking at a joint news
conference with his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh, Tillerson also said
that Washington intends to intensify its efforts to deter Tehran in
Syrian and Yemen, countries in which Washington and Tehran side with
opposing sides "I'm not going to comment on my expectation. But
we hope that if Rouhani wanted to change Iran's relationship with the
rest of the world those are the things that he could do,"
Tillerson said. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iran's
presidential election was an internal matter and called on Tehran to
adhere to United Nations resolutions on its ballistic missiles and to
stop supporting "terrorism".
As voters in Iran danced in the streets, celebrating the
landslide re-election of a moderate as president, President Trump
stood in front of a gathering of leaders from across the Muslim world
and called on them to isolate a nation he said had "fueled the
fires of sectarian conflict and terror." That nation was Iran.
In using the headline address of his first foreign trip as president
to declare his commitment to Sunni Arab nations, Mr. Trump signaled a
return to an American policy built on alliances with Arab autocrats,
regardless of their human rights records or policies that sometimes
undermine American interests. At the same time, he rejected the path
taken by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Mr. Obama engaged with Iran
to reach a breakthrough nuclear accord, which Mr. Trump's administration
has acknowledged Iran is following.
UANI IN THE NEWS
As Donald Trump arrives in Saudi Arabia on his first
foreign trip as US president, formal security agreements, a
counterterror plan, boosting the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and
expanding economic ties are expected to top the agenda of his
meetings. Trump's arrival comes at a high point in US-Saudi
relations, according to analysts, and follows preparatory work and
visits to Riyadh this year by US Defense Secretary James Mattis and
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo. Senior Saudi
political and economic delegations went to Washington in the last
three months, starting with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's
meeting with Trump in March; Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir's
meetings with his counterpart Rex Tillerson on different occasions;
and a US-Saudi economic summit at the US Chamber of Commerce last
month. Mark Wallace, a former US ambassador and CEO of United Against
Nuclear Iran, told Arab News that Trump's visit is aimed at
"improving relations with Saudi Arabia after they were strained
because of the Obama administration's pursuit of a nuclear deal with
Iran." Wallace described strengthened US-Saudi ties as a
"win-win for both countries. Washington is able to receive more
support in its effort to combat terrorism, while Riyadh and other
countries in the neighborhood are able to more thoroughly defend
their territorial integrity."
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Iran has sanctioned nine more U.S.-linked businesses,
organizations and people over America's sanctions over its ballistic
missile program. Iran's Foreign Ministry published a new sanctions
list online Saturday, which added nine targets. The sanctions means
Iran could seize local assets of the companies targeted and bar its
employees from the country. Those targets include Booz Allen Hamilton
of McLean, Virginia; shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries of
Newport News, Virginia; cyber-security firm Kingfisher Systems of
Falls Church, Virginia; and DynCorp International, also of McLean.
Iran accused the United States on Monday of selling arms
to "dangerous terrorists" in the Middle East and of
spreading "Iranophobia" aimed at encouraging Arab states to
purchase arms, state television reported. "Once again, by his
repetitive and baseless claims about Iran, the American president ...
tried to encourage the countries of the region to purchase more arms
by spreading Iranophobia," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram
Qassemi said, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump ended a visit
to Tehran's arch-foe Saudi Arabia where arms deals worth almost $110
billion were signed. Sending a tough message to Tehran shortly after
pragmatist Hassan Rouhani was re-elected president, Trump had urged
Arab and Islamic leaders to unite to defeat Islamist militants, and
said Iran had for decades "fueled the fires of sectarian
conflict and terrors".
The landslide re-election of Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani threatens to put the Trump administration on a collision
course with Europe over future policy toward Tehran. European
officials hailed the news of Mr. Rouhani's win as heralding a more
moderate path for Iran over the next four years. But President Donald
Trump, speaking to Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia, sought to rally
the international community behind a new campaign to push back Iran's
influence in the Middle East. Indeed, Mr. Trump signaled a
significant hardening of the U.S. position toward Iran, suggesting
only the removal of its theocratic leadership could stabilize the
region. "Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for
peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate
Iran...and pray for the day when the Iranian people have the just and
righteous government they deserve," Mr. Trump said.
Saturday night, Iranians poured into the streets by the
hundreds of thousands to celebrate the re-election of President
Hassan Rouhani, whose message of opening up to the West helped him to
trounce a hard-line challenger. On Sunday, U.S. President Donald
Trump called on the world to isolate Iran. Nothing could better
highlight the challenge the pragmatic Iranian cleric faces in his
second term. Trump's uncompromising line on Iran was enthusiastically
welcomed by his Sunni hosts, Iran's bitter regional rival Saudi
Arabia. On Sunday, Saudi King Salman described the Shiite regime in
Iran as "the spearhead of global terrorism.'' Trump appeared to
agree.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday
criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for sealing an arms deal and
other investments worth hundreds of billions of dollars with Saudi
Arabia, Tehran's arch-rival in the Middle East. Zarif's comments came
hours after Trump, who is visiting Saudi Arabia, urged Arab and
Islamic leaders to unite and defeat Islamist extremists. Trump
singled out Iran as a key sponsor of militant groups, sending a tough
message to Tehran the day after Hassan Rouhani won a second term as
Iran's president. "Iran - fresh from real elections -
attacked by @POTUS in that bastion of democracy & moderation.
Foreign Policy or simply milking KSA of $480B?," Zarif wrote in
a Twitter post, referring to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Saturday in Saudi
Arabia that the focal point of President Trump's visit to the Gulf
nation is to curb the threat of neighboring Iran, while putting much
of the burden on recently reelected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
"Rouhani has a new term," Tillerson said at a press
conference in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. "And he could use
that term to dismantle a network of terrorism. ... That's what we
hope he does." Tillerson, well known in Saudi Arabia for his
visits as ExxonMobil's chief executive, said the United States also
hopes Rouhani puts an end to ballistic missile testing and restores
freedom of speech in his country.
Donald Trump has launched a fierce attack on Iran, just
a day after the country re-elected its moderate president on a
platform of re-engagement with the outside world. Speaking to an
audience of Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia, the US president singled
out Tehran for fuelling "the fires of sectarian conflict and
terror" as he called on Gulf nations to "drive out
terrorists and extremists". Mr Trump's stance contrasts starkly
with that of his predecessor Barack Obama, who two years ago struck a
landmark nuclear deal with Iran and whose administration had a
strained relationship with Tehran's Sunni rivals in the Gulf. During
a trip that has sought to bolster ties with Arab countries - and step
up arms sales - Mr Trump called the fight against terrorism a "battle
between good and evil".
SYRIA CONFLICT
The United States said on Friday it believed forces in a
convoy targeted by U.S. military aircraft in southern Syria on
Thursday were Iranian-directed, in a possible sign of increased
tension between Washington and Tehran in the Syrian war. Defense
Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon that the U.S.
strike was defensive in nature. It was condemned by the government of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has the backing of Iran and
Russia. A member of the U.S.-backed Syrian rebel forces told Reuters
on Thursday the convoy comprised Syrian and Iranian-backed militias
and was headed toward the garrison in Syria used by U.S. and
U.S.-backed forces around the town of At Tanf. The United States
determined that the convoy posed a threat.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
A senior United Arab Emirates official said on Sunday
the re-election of moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani could be
a chance for Tehran to reset "its troubled relations" with
its neighbors. Relations between Gulf Arab states, including the UAE,
have been strained over fears that Tehran was interfering in their
affairs, including in Syria and Yemen, fomenting unrest and sectarian
tensions. Tehran denies these allegations. Rouhani beat his
main challenger, hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi, in presidential
election on Friday, garnering more than 57 percent of the vote. It
was not immediately clear if the comments by UAE Minister of State
for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash reflected any change in Arab
states' views of Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of
Tehran was well received at a summit of Arab and Islamic leaders with
him in Riyadh on Sunday.
The yawning gap between Tehran and Washington has grown
even wider with US President Donald Trump's latest efforts to isolate
Iran, which accused the United States of "milking" Saudi
Arabia for petro-dollars. Trump's choice of Saudi Arabia, Iran's
bitter regional rival, for his first official foreign visit reflects
the deep antagonism of his administration towards the Islamic
republic. The US president signed a giant list of deals, worth a
total of $380 billion, including $110 billion for weapons that will invariably
find their way into the numerous conflicts of the region - including
Syria, Yemen and Iraq - where Riyadh and Tehran often find themselves
on opposing sides. Trump also vilified Iran as the greatest source of
instability in the Middle East, though many observers noted the irony
that his claims came on the same day that 41 million Iranians
enthusiastically took part in elections, with a sizeable majority
backing President Hassan Rouhani and his policy of engagement with
the world.
SAUDI-IRAN TENSIONS
Iran's ruling powers represent the "tip of the
spear" of global terrorism, Saudi King Salman said in a speech
on Sunday during a visit of U.S. President Donald Trump to the
kingdom. "Our responsibility before God and our people and the
whole world is to stand united to fight the forces of evil and
extremism wherever they are ... The Iranian regime represents the tip
of the spear of global terrorism." The king also said in a
televised speech that Saudi Arabia would not be lenient in trying
anyone who finances terrorism. "We will never be lenient in
trying anyone who finances terrorism, in any way or means, to the
full force of the law."
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Iranians yearning for detente abroad and greater
freedoms at home have handed President Hassan Rouhani a second term,
but the hard-line forces he defeated in elections Friday will remain
defiantly opposed to his plans. Rouhani built his resounding win in
Friday's presidential election by promising more economic
opportunities for Iran's youth, as well as social justice, individual
freedoms and political tolerance. He also picked a rare public fight
with hard-liners close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
angrily criticizing their favorite in the race, Ebrahim Raisi, a
judge seen by reformists as representing the security state at its
most fearsome. The Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), the country's most
powerful security force, is unlikely to forget his attacks, which
played to widespread frustration with a state that controls how
Iranians speak, gather and dress.
A decisive re-election win for Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani is likely to fuel his push for foreign investment and better
relations with the West, but it will also likely mobilize
conservative forces that have resisted rapprochement and advocate
domestic development. Mr. Rouhani has called for more foreign
investment and trade as part of his plans to ease unemployment and
raise living standards. And he has pledged to continue efforts to get
sanctions on Iran lifted, as some were under the 2015 deal with six
world powers to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Yet going down that
path could lead Mr. Rouhani, who captured 57% of the vote in Friday's
election, into confrontation with some of Iran's most powerful
interests, concentrated around Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
who has the final say in most matters of state.
Iranian hardliners indignant at President Hassan
Rouhani's re-election vowed on Sunday to press their conservative
agenda, with some saying his caustic campaign trail attacks on their
candidate would bring a backlash. Rouhani won decisively with 57
percent of the vote on Friday, with promises of more engagement with
the outside world, more economic opportunities for Iran's youth, as
well as social justice, individual freedoms and political tolerance.
The president, known for decades as a conciliatory figure, remade
himself on the campaign trail as a reformist political street
fighter, accusing hardliners of brutality and corruption in language
that frequently strained at the boundaries of what is permitted in
Iran. At one point, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called
rhetoric in a TV debate "unworthy".
Iranians came out in force to dance in the streets this
weekend, breaking Islamic rules, to celebrate the re-election of
President Hassan Rouhani by a large margin. Emboldened by the
election results, others gathered in the capital, Tehran, to begin
demanding what they hope a second term for Mr. Rouhani will bring:
the release of opposition figures, more freedom of thought and fewer
restrictions on daily life. Mr. Rouhani's supporters also expect the
victory to bolster his outreach efforts to the West and the pursuit
of more foreign investment in Iran's ailing economy. His win, with 57
percent of the vote, came the same weekend that President Trump was
meeting with Saudi and other Arab leaders to discuss, in part, a
strengthened alliance against Iran.
Candidates backing reform of Iran's clerically overseen
government swept municipal elections in Tehran, taking all 21 local
council seats in the country's capital while moderate President
Hassan Rouhani won a second term in office, authorities said on
Monday. Their win in Friday's election marks the first time
reformists have gained total control of Tehran's municipal council
since such votes began in the Islamic Republic in 1999. Iranian media
also reported similar big gains for reformists in other major cities.
While their powers are limited to local affairs, the councils
represent direct control of governance by Iran's 80 million people.
Having reformists take control signals a groundswell of support for
slowly changing the way government works in Iran, while also reflects
growing discontent with the country's hard-liners.
Iran's defeated hardline candidate Ebrahim Raisi
denounced numerous "violations" in the conduct of Friday's
election that saw the re-election of President Hassan Rouhani, and
called for an investigation.In a letter to the Guardian Council,
which oversees elections, Raisi called for "the investigation of
certain violations committed before and during the election",
according to the Fars news agency. It said Raisi, a 56-year-old
jurist and cleric, had sent hundreds of pages of documents supporting
his allegations. "I cannot keep quiet in the face of the
injustice committed against the rights of people," he said in
his letter.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
President Trump made a bold move by including Israel and
Saudi Arabia on his first international visit. His predecessors,
dating back to President Ford, chose the safer political confines of
Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom when making their first
international jaunts. By selecting Israel and Saudi Arabia, the trip
not only symbolizes a chance to reset relations with these countries
after a rupture over the Iran nuclear deal; it also shows America's
allies and the rest of the world that Trump's administration is
serious about confronting the extremist forces that threaten the
region. While there are a wide variety of issues expected to be
discussed when the president sits down with his counterparts, there
are three in particular that should be at the top of his agenda:
Hamas' rapprochement with Iran, Hezbollah's war drums, and bolstering
relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Hassan Rouhani, the newly re-elected president of Iran,
is a creature of the Islamic Republic's establishment, an apparatchik
with much guile and little imagination. And yet Rouhani's subversive
political campaign may do lasting damage to the Islamic Republic In
the process of reclaiming his office, he shed light on the regime's
dark past and made fantastic promises that he has neither the ability
nor the intention of keeping. Rouhani's campaign alienated the
regime's powerbrokers and his tenure will inevitably disillusion his
constituents. The Rouhani presidency will once more remind the
Iranian people that the theocratic state cannot reform itself.
In the days before President Hassan Rouhani's
re-election victory in Iran this weekend, a video of one of his old
speeches circulated on social media. Speaking at Iran's parliament,
Rouhani says dissidents against the new regime should be publicly
hanged during Friday prayers as a message. Rouhani was a younger man
in this speech, in his early 40s. The revolution was also young. And
many Iranian leaders of that era have taken the journey from
revolution to reform. The reason Rouhani's speech though is so
relevant to Iran today is because, in public at least, the president
of Iran has changed his tune. During his campaign, he told voters
that he would be a "lawyer" defending their rights. He
criticized his main rival, Ebrahim Raisi, for his role in ordering
the executions of political dissidents. He promised gender equality
and a freer press.
Iran's elections do matter. The president determines the
direction the country will take in the four years that follow. He
sets economic policy and manages relations with the different
factions in Tehran, which has considerable impact on how much freedom
Iranians will experience in their daily lives. But why should that
matter to those watching from outside Iran? In Iran, the president's
mandate is limited But his relationship with the supreme leader, and
his ability to play the political game and balance between the
different factions in Tehran, potentially give him considerable
influence in areas that are traditionally outside his mandate.
President Hassan Rouhani demonstrated that he had Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei's ear during the nuclear negotiations. And as a regime
insider, he was adept at balancing the interests of competing groups
within the system even when they were slinging mud at him.
A few weeks ago when the government in Tehran dispatched
a team of journalists to Syria the idea was that they would report on
"the historic victory" achieved by the Islamic Republic,
Russia and their protégé Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo. For more than six
years, that is to say since Iran threw its weight behind Assad's
beleaguered regime in Damascus, this kind of journalistic missions
had been routine. The mission pursued two major gals. The first
was to reassure the Iranian public about the Syrian adventurer by
creating the impression that the side backed by Tehran was wining.
The second was to tell part of the Syrian population that is still
under the control of Assad that his regime was not as isolated as it
appeared. The journalistic mission would visit a number of locations
and film its comings and goings for screening on television channels
in Tehran and Damascus. There would be reports about deeds of
derring-do by Iranian "volunteers" and their companions
from the Lebanese "Hezbollah," and, more recently, Afghan
and Pakistani mercenaries.
Despite President Trump's reluctance to get deeply
involved in the Syrian civil war, the United States now finds itself
in the middle of an escalating battle in the country's south that
last week led to a clash between the U.S. military and Iranian-backed
pro-government forces. If he can seize the opportunity, Trump could
deal a blow to Iranian regional influence and help save Syria in the
process. To hear the Trump administration tell it, the coalition
airstrike May 18near the al-Tanf base on Syria's border with Jordan
and Iraq was a one-off event. A statement from U.S. Central Command
said that "pro-regime forces" had crossed into an
"established de-confliction zone," posing a threat to
opposition forces and the U.S. troops who are training them.
President Trump visited Saudi Arabia on his first trip
abroad this weekend even as Iran re-elected Hassan Rouhani in a sham
presidential vote. The timing may have been coincidental but the
symbolism is potent. Mr. Trump is reviving the traditional U.S.
alliance with the Sunni Arab states even as Tehran reaffirms its
intentions to dominate the Middle East. The timing comes full circle
from the start of Barack Obama's eight-year tilt toward Iran. That
tilt began with Mr. Obama's silence as Iranian leaders stole the 2009
presidential election while arresting and killing democratic protesters.
He then spent two terms courting Iran in pursuit of his nuclear deal
while downgrading relations with the Gulf Arabs, Israel and Egypt.
Mr. Trump's weekend meetings and Sunday speech show he is reversing
that tilt as he tries to revive U.S. alliances and credibility in the
Middle East.
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