Rouhani secures resounding victory in Iran presidential election
TEHRAN, Iran — Riding a large turnout from Iran’s urban middle classes, President Hassan Rouhani won re-election in a landslide Saturday, giving him a mandate to continue his quest to expand personal freedoms and open Iran’s ailing economy to global investors.
Perhaps as important, analysts say, the resounding victory should enable him to strengthen the position of the moderate and reformist faction as the country prepares for the end of the rule of the 78-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Of the 41 million votes cast, the Interior Ministry said, Rouhani won 23 million (or 57 percent), soundly defeating his chief opponent, Ebrahim Raisi, who received 15.7 million (38.5 percent). Iranian state television congratulated Rouhani on his victory.
Turnout was heavy, with more than 70 percent of Iran’s 56 million voters casting ballots.
Despite the healthy margin of victory, Rouhani, 68, will face considerable headwinds, both at home and abroad, as he embarks on his second term. He badly needs to demonstrate progress on overhauling the economy.
While he accomplished his goal of reaching a nuclear agreement with the United States and Western powers in his first term, that has not translated into the economic revival he predicted because of lingering U.S. sanctions.
He must also deal with an unpredictable and hawkish Trump administration that only reluctantly signed the sanctions waivers that are a central element of the nuclear agreement. At a summit meeting this weekend in Saudi Arabia between President Donald Trump and leaders of predominantly Muslim countries, Iran was pointedly not invited.
The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress is not about to loosen the unilateral sanctions that are frightening off foreign banks and businesses.
Rouhani, who has managed to mend ties with the European Union, is undaunted, saying only last week that, “We will break all the sanctions against Iran.”
After his victory Saturday, he said after invoking the name of God: “With more than 41 million of your votes, you have pulled out the history of our country away from inertia and doubt.”
Nevertheless, as supreme leader, Khamenei must approve any further changes sought by Rouhani.
