I fell behind on the Iranian election, and as I understand it, President Rouhani used the third and final debate to unleash a violent attack upon his conservative opponent, Raisi. But this examination of Rouhani’s response to a question regarding banking shows the Reformists work together, keeping in mind Hashemi-Taba is a Reformist, like Rouhani. From Iran’s PressTV:
Rouhani, the third candidate at the podium, used his four-minute time to express his plans to solve the problems in the country’s banking system. He said Iran’s banking system needs fundamental reforms. The incumbent president added that his administration has managed to double the capital of state-run banks to get more active in the economic sector.
The presidential candidates took turns to express their views on Rouhani’s remarks with Jahangiri saying the previous administration had brought about the depletion of bank resources. He added that the 11th administration is implementing the development plan for banks to help them become active in production. Raeisi said the 11th administration blames its predecessor for all of the problems. Raeisi added that the current administration has left the country in limbo for four years. Hashemi-Taba said the banking problems were handed down to the 11th administration by its predecessor. Qalibaf said the administration of President Rouhani has failed in properly supervising and managing banks and added that liquidity has tripled under the present administration. Aqa-Mirsalim said the banking system is currently based on usury, adding that the 11th administration is required to be more serious in dealing with the banking problems.
Notice how Hashemi-Taba reinforces Rouhani’s assertion while breaking the momentum of the hard-liners.
Golnaz Esfandiari provides a live blog of the event on RadioFreeEurope / RadioLiberty: .
19:4412.5.2017 Jahangiri attacks Qalibaf who accused of corruption, says his life is spotless.
19:3912.5.2017 Rohani attacks Raisi, says he doesn’t seem to be informed about legal issues despite being a judge. You’re a judge, you make such gratuitous accusations?
19:3612.5.2017 Raisi state structures should be fixed to counter corruption. He alleges that Rohani’s brother is corrupt and that the president doesn’t act against him.
Siavosh Hosseini on Cafe Babel provides an overview of the election’s issues:
For the Iranian regime, this election is demonstrating one of its internal crises, namely the direction of Iran on the international stage going forward. President Hassan Rouhani is seen as a moderate with a view toward creating ties to build relationships with foreign investors and bringing the capital into the Iranian economy.
His hardline opponents, on the other hand, are vowing to get rid of the 2015 nuclear deal, as well as work toward a self-reliant economy that limits ties with foreign investors. Clearly, it is a factional fight over power. Those who are with Khamenei understand that foreign investment means that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other government agencies would be at risk of having to compete with private capital and thus have less of a stranglehold on the economy.
It is not a question of good guys versus bad guys, but is truly a struggle over money and power within Iran. During the third debate, Rouhani said that the historical agreement with the world powers had ended many of the sanctions that had previously impeded the health of the economy. He pointed to the growth in the energy sector, particularly gas and oil. Funds that are coming in, he said, could be reinvested into other areas of the country’s economy.
So the result, in case you missed it? From Aljazeera:
Source: Tehran Times
Iran’s reformist President Hassan Rouhani has decisively won the country’s presidential election, according to official results, fending off a challenge by principlist rival Ebrahim Raisi.
With all of votes in Friday’s poll counted, Rouhani was re-elected with 57 percent, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmanifazli said on Saturday.
“Of some 41.2 million total votes cast, Rouhani got 23.5 … and won the election,” Rahmanifazli said in remarks carried live by state TV.
Raisi, Rouhani’s closest rival, got 15.8 million votes, he added.
A big turnout on Friday led to the vote being extended by several hours to deal with long queues.
Aljazeera’s interview with Political commentator Mostafa Khoshcheshm yielded this:
“He resorted to other campaign slogans, like [calling for] social and political freedom, and he pushed the boundaries in order to gather public support, especially in large cities,” Khoshcheshm told Al Jazeera.
“If he has secured this result, it’s because of the large cities and the middle-class society living there – they have voted for him and made him a president and they expect him to do his promises.”
So the JCPOA is probably safe from Iranian rejection for its course, and the Trump Administration, despite its bluster, appears uninterested in rejection or modification. Iran will remain a bit of a powder keg, though, as the Reformists battle the hard-liners, and this is more complex than the United States, as the hard-liners retain control of institutions not subject to popular control, such as the Supreme Council. Whether an actual revolt will be necessary to force Iran into a more moderate track is not at all clear to me.
There was no mention that I saw of former President Ahmadinejad’s supporters instigating problems, so his abortive run remains a bit of a mystery. I suspect a long range plan is afoot, but do not have any idea of what it might be.
