Rohani Clout in Iran Corridors of Power May Aid Nuclear Deal
By Kambiz Foroohar - Aug 1, 2013
Iranian President-elect Hassan Rohani once complained that the Islamic Republic’s leaders tend to take extreme positions in negotiations with the West and find it hard to compromise. Rohani is about to get a chance to prove he can do better.
The former negotiator, who wrote a book about his experience as a nuclear diplomat, will be inaugurated as president on Sunday. He won the June 14 election promising to ease a standoff with the U.S. and revive an economy crippled by sanctions that reflect Iran’s growing isolation under outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Failure risks exposing Iran to a military attack by Israel, which says it considers a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat, or the U.S. Success may depend on Rohani’s ability to leverage connections with Iran’s powerful non-elected bodies and most of all with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the top decision-maker, whom he first met four decades ago during the early days of Islamist opposition to the Shah.
“Rohani can do a deal because the Supreme Leader trusts him,” said Peter Jenkins, the U.K. Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency in the period when Rohani was Iran’s negotiator. “He is a defender of Iranian interests and will drive a hard but honest bargain.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-31/rohani-s-clout-in-iran-corridors-of-power-may-help-nuclear-deal.html