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The Boston GlobeCommentary May 26, 2017 Fariborz S. Fatemi
What is it about Iran that the talking heads in the media,so-called experts in the think tanks, and op-ed and editorial writers can neverget right? Two examples come immediately to mind. The US/Iraniannuclear deal and President Rouhani’s recent re-election. If you believed this collective “expert” opinion about thenuclear deal, its achievement seemed improbable. But surprise, surprise, it wasachieved. More recently, again, if you believed the collective“expert” opinion, President Rouhani was in grave danger of losing or theelection would be very close, with all that implies. The reasons stated werethat the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, hard-liners, the RevolutionaryGuards, the clerics, and the judiciary were against him. Surprise, Surprise. President Rouhani was re-elected by a resounding 57 per centof the vote, while the hardliner’s candidate, Ayatollah Raisi, received only 38per cent of the vote. Forty one million votes were cast, that is 70 per cent ofIran’s 56 million voters. The lines were so long that the polls had to be keptopen for an extra six hours. This was another of more than a dozen freeelections held in Iran since the 1979 Revolution. What was also missed by the collective “experts” was theperformance of the pro-reform groups allied with President Rouhani at themunicipal level. They won in every major city. In Tehran, the capital, for thefirst time, reformists won all 21 council seats, which means the next mayorwill be a reformist mayor. Furthermore, President Rouhani’s re-election was so decisivethat it places him in a good position to become the next supreme leader afterAyatollah Khamenei retires. Without doubt, the next several years will bringendless possibilities for President Rouhani to enact his reform agenda. As a professor of political science at Tehran Universitysaid recently, “The people voted for more social and academic freedom, moreeconomic growth and the ability to control their own destiny.” The “experts.” When are they going to get it right aboutIran, instead of always buying the false narrative of the neo-cons, theirCongressional supporters, Saudi Arabia and Israel, with their own sordidagendas, trying to make Iran the heavy in the region?