WITH the results of the Iranian presidential elections confirmed, Hasan Rouhani will have four more years at the helm of affairs. It was a closely watched and closely fought race, with Mr Rouhani staving off a strong challenge from conservative cleric Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi. In a neighbourhood dominated by a variety of hereditary potentates and beset by extremist militancy, Iran’s hybrid clerical-democratic system has proven remarkably durable ever since the 1979 revolution, surviving jolts from within and without. On the domestic front, Hasan Rouhani’s victory shows that the Iranian people want to give the moderate cleric another chance at realising his vision. He managed to secure nearly 60pc of the vote, with a respectable turnout of around 70pc of the electorate. It seems clear that the Iranian people want a moderate, pragmatic leadership at the helm to address their domestic woes, the top-most of which is an economy plagued by internal problems and external pressures.

It is also true that the Iranian people have endorsed Mr Rouhani’s external policies and want continuation of the course of action he has embarked on. Of course, the crowning achievement of the first Rouhani administration was 2015’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 is formally known. That landmark deal was hailed across the international community, with the exception of Israel, the Gulf Arabs and the hard right in America. Interestingly, today the poster boy of the American extreme right, Donald Trump, sits in the White House, and he has sent a message about where his foreign policy priorities lie by visiting Saudi Arabia and Israel in his maiden overseas visit. The establishments in Washington D.C., Riyadh and Tel Aviv have no love lost for Tehran and have made threatening noises with regard to Iran. With Rouhani’s re-election, the Iranian people have indicated that they favour the path of dialogue and eschew confrontation. Now it is up to Mr Trump and his regional allies to reply in kind. Rather than ratchet up tension and provoke a radical response from Tehran, the US should realise that Iran is a major regional player and all outstanding issues with the Islamic Republic should be dealt with on the negotiating table. The ‘fighting words’ emanating from Washington and Riyadh will do nothing but further fan the flames and add to the Middle East’s woes. Mr Rouhani’s policy of dialogue should not be dismissed.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2017