Reading Rouhani: The Promise and Peril of Iran’s New President

BY STEVEN DITTO

In summer 2013—after eight years of a worsening economy, growing international isolation, and an increasingly restrictive social atmosphere— the Iranian people signaled their rejection of the status quo with the election of Hassan Rouhani and his platform of “Prudence and Hope” (tadbir va omid). Throughout the monthlong presidential campaign, Rouhani proclaimed himself a consensus builder who could bring a semblance of normalcy to the country: stabilize the economy, reinvigorate a flagging foreign policy, curb the securitization of society, and foster unity through a shared sense of national identity and religious values. Once in office, he has pledged a number of reforms, such as the creation of a “citizen charter of rights” to strengthen civil liberties, including those of ethnic and religious minorities, and a Ministry of Women’s Affairs to bring full gender equality to education and the workplace.