Iranians delivered a dramatic setback to their hardline leadership by casting their votes for the only moderate candidate in Friday’s presidential elections.
Instead of the presumed favourite of the supreme leader, the intransigent nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, the electorate voted for Hassan Rohani, a centrist cleric best remembered for suspending nuclear enrichment when he was in charge of nuclear diplomacy in the early 2000s.
Whether Mr Rohani won in spite of opposition from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or with his last-minute consent may never be known. But his election sends a powerful message that Iranians are fed up with extremist policies, whether in economic management or relations with the rest of the world.
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