Rouhani’s success in Iran presidential poll was due to Arefi’s withdrawal and support from former presidents - expert

Hassan Rouhani’s success in Iran’s presidential election was due to former candidate Reza Arefi, who pulled out of race in his favor, as well as the former presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who backed him in the course of the campaign, says an Armenian expert specialized in Iranian studies.

Speaking to Tert.am, a researcher at the National Academy’s Oriental Studies Institute, Gohar Iskandaryan, explained that Rouhani won the votes of those Iranian citizens who were either eager to have a reformist leader or wished to see Rashasnjani in the president’s role, or were otherwise discontent with the situation in the Islamic Republic.

“Besides, Rouhani also received votes from those Iranian citizens who wished Iran to start negotiations with the West, because his campaign focused on the idea of conducting talks with the West and thus reducing the sanctions’ format. They will be able in this way to improve Iran’s economy a little bit,” she said, adding that Rouhani had proposed long- and short-terms plans for healing the country’s economy.

Tert.am had earlier cited expert opinions as saying that the race for the Iranian president’s post will see a tough struggle between Rouhani (who supports reforms) and one of the conservative candidates. Specialists predicted a run-off scenario, expecting none of them to cross the necessary 50% threshold.

The 11th presidential election in Iran saw a campaign among six candidates, including Ali Akbar Velayeti (ex-foreign minister and an advisor to the country’s supreme religious leader), Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (who is the mayor of Tehran), Mohsen Rezee (secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council ), Hassan Rouhani (director of the same council), Mohammad Gharrazi (ex-minister of communication) and Saeed Jalili (secretary of Supreme National Security Council).

If a final vote tabulation reveals that Rouhani has garnered over 50% of votes, he will be declared the country’s president in the first round. The preliminary vote results place Ghalibaf (18.22%) and Jalili (18.22%) as the second and third candidates, respectively.

Iskandaryan noted that the Tehran mayor has also stood out with his work over the past years, especially in the development sector (hospitals, roads and schools were built in Iran’s capital under him).

“And he promised to recover Iran’s economy in two years. His management [talent] is very good. And it is, in major part, focused on Tehran,” she said, noting that Ghalibaf, the other candidate with a majority of votes, is mostly favored by the youth whose problems are under his permanent spotlight.

It is noteworthy that Iranian presidential elections are not monitored by International observers. Asked how theorists decide whether the polls met the democracy standards, the experts said they normally base their evaluations on local or foreign materials.

Iran’s former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, won his new term in office in the 2009 presidential elections .

Speaking further on the electoral developments in the country, Iskandaryan said she doesn’t rule out the possibility of frauds..

“Irregularities are quite likely,” she said, noting that the election frauds in disclosed 2009 caused the authorities to declare ballot boxes invalid and conduct a new voting.

The expert said further that she doesn’t expect Armenia’s southern neighbor to change its foreign policy course given that a huge power is exercised by the country’s supreme religious leader, who is the second after the president.

“As it [the foreign policy] is determined by the religious class - under the leadership of the supreme patriarch - and implemented by the Foreign Ministry and naturally with the knowledge and under the guidance of the president, it remains the same,” she added.