Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has called his re-election on Friday a vote by the Iranian people for moderation and reason.

Rouhani used his press conference on Monday for an effective rebuke to his foes within the regime, including the Revolutionary Guards and elements within the Supreme Leader’s office.

Having warned before the election that his defeat would mean a return to “repression”, the President said yesterday that “lies” and “destructive efforts” in the campaign had been dismissed.

In more diplomatic language, he said, “The people said ‘yes’ to unity and balance,” but he then summarized, “No one has the right to drag the Revolution into his tent.”

Rouhani won comfortably with 57% of the vote in an election in which almost 75% of eligible Iranians participated. It had been expected that hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi would be close, and possibly even gain a majority, with support from the Supreme Leader’s office and conservative-hardline unity after the withdrawal of Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. However, Raisi could only manage in the 38.5% in the final tally.

Balancing “Engagement” and a Tough Line

Rouhani again promoted his approach of economic recovery linked to “engagement” with other countries and groups — opposed during the Supreme Leader during the campaign — while maintaining tough rhetoric: “Our nation wants to live in peace and friendship with the world but at the same time, it will accept no humiliation or threat.”

The President used Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, with Sunday’s “Riyadh Summit” of regional leaders, as his foil. Mocking the summit as a “show”, he said, “We are waiting for the new US administration to reach a mental stability. American [officials] were wrong about our region.”

Rouhani jabbed at the announcement of a $110 billion US arms sale to the Saudis, “I do not think the American people are ready to trade the lives they lost in Sept. 11 with billions of dollars gained through weapons sales.”

And he responded to the denunciations by Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of an undemocratic Islamic Republic denying rights to its citizens:

Mr. Trump arrived in the region at the time when he saw 45 million Iranians participating in the elections. Then he visited a country that I doubt knows the definition of elections. The poor things have never seen a ballot box.

But Rouhani appeared to leave the door open to dialogue with the US, while not straying too far from the Supreme Leader’s line. Asked if he had a message for Donald Trump, he responded:

Iran and America have gone through lots of ups and downs in the past 39 or 40 years. They have used numerous measures against https://eaworldview.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=wp-add-custom-css_settingsIran, all leading to failure. Americans were only successful in their engagement with the Iranian nation during the nuclear talks.

Khamenei reluctantly backed the nuclear negotiations after Rouhani’s warning of economic crisis in the event that a deal was not achieved; however, he has ruled out any talks with the US outside the implementation of the agreement.

The President defended Iran’s ballistic missile testing, saying that the launches were only to ensure the Islamic Republic’s security and did not violate a UN Security Council resolution passed at the time of the July 2015 nuclear deal.

During the first Presidential campaign debate, Rouhani had challenged the Revolutionary Guards for unnecessary testing that jeopardized the implementation of the deal and for provocative slogans on the missiles antagonizing international opinion.

Big Victories For Reformists and Centrists in City Elections

Reformists and centrists have won unprecedented victories in city and village council elections, stunning conservatives and hardliners.

In Tehran, the Reformists won all 21 seats, removing conservatives dominated the council for a decade. The losers are trying to persuade Parliament and the Guardian Council to invalidate some of teh reformists’ votes.

The outcome means that Tehran Mayor Qalibaf, in office since 2005, will be replaced. Speculation on a successor has included Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, the son of the late former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Mashhad and Esfahan, long-time strongholds for conservatives and hardliners, also swung to the reformists and centrists.