Khamenei, Iran Choose Statesman Rouhani
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has acquiesced to the will of the people and a perhaps more conciliatory political posture with the election of Hassan Rouhani.
Two days before Iranians voted for who would succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of the Islamic Republic, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered a rhetorical olive branch to the country’s opposition. He said that even those who “do not support the Islamic system” should come out and vote.
Khamenei’s message was a direct and unprecedented acknowledgement of the reformists and millions of silent secularists who comprise Iran’s "opposition" as stakeholders in the country. It was also a message to them that their votes would count.
This overture should be considered now that Hassan Rouhani — a candidate supported by reformists, and a reformist himself in all but name — has become the seventh president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Supreme Leader’s comments actively contributed to the success of a candidate that is not within the conservative confines of his "principlist" political stable, in the process creating a more inclusive and pluralistic Iran. Contrary to endless punditry about Saeed Jalili being Khamenei’s favored candidate and even the front-runner, it now appears that the Supreme Leader made the calculated decision to acquiesce to the will of the Iranian people.
