Revisiting Rouhani's Election: The politics of managing change in Iran

Speaker: Ali Ansari, University of St Andrews Chair: Pejman Abdolmohammadi, LSE Middle East Centre The election of Hassan Rouhani to the Presidency of the Islamic Republic in 2013 for many signalled a popular rejection of the politics of confrontation endorsed by his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and support for greater liberalism at home and internationalism abroad. With his first term coming to an end and an agreement reached on Iran's nuclear programme, this talk revisits the 2013 Presidential election campaign and argues that the process retained much of the intricate management of previous elections and a willingness to 'believe the rhetoric' of the campaign has resulted in a dangerous mismanagement of expectations. Recorded on 10 November 2016. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Hassan Rouhani during the 2013 Presidential elections.