Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has won an impressive victory to claim a second term in office. His win is a vote to continue the moderate policies that Rouhani has backed, in particular the effort to reopen Iran to the world. While that effort was somewhat fitful, the president can now claim the support of reformers who prevailed in elections for Iran's municipal governments that were also held last week. Unfortunately, resistance to those changes will remain equally entrenched: Iran's conservatives continue to be a powerful source of resistance. Ironically, their views are supported by the U.S. government, which sees Iran as a threat, no matter who is in power.
Rouhani won last week's election with 57 percent of the vote, claiming an outright majority with over 73 percent of voters going to the polls. Rouhani trounced his main conservative rival, the cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who won just 38.5 percent of the vote. Significantly, his margin of victory increased over the June 2013 poll, when he claimed 50.7 percent of the vote.
Just as telling is the impressive showing of reformers in local elections also held last weekend. While mayors control the day-to-day affairs of most municipalities, local councils pick and then oversee those officials, and have great influence over budgets, administrative affairs and cultural and educational activities. Liberal candidates won all 21 seats in the Tehran municipal government for the first time since 1999, when elections for that body commenced and are reportedly leading in other major cities. Their victories are a repudiation of hard-line rule by conservatives.