Reformist analyst: Rouhani has no strategy

In an interview with Reformist Etemaad newspaper, analyst Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, one of the organizers of the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy, an act for which he offered an apology, talked about the current state and past failures of Reformist movements and complaints of the President Hassan Rouhani administration. The former member of parliament and chairman of the Tehran City Council believes the administration doesn’t yet know what its own strategy is, and said the Iranian public is beginning to ask questions.

In his interview with journalist Mojtaba Hosseini, Asgharzadeh said that one of the problems with the Rouhani administration is that “They don’t know what their function is. Are they non-partisan or coalitionist? Reform-inclined and wanting change or moderate and wanting to maintain the current status? Are they socialists or neoliberal? With what strategy, capabilities and accessories will [Rouhani] achieve his political, economic and cultural goals and implement his campaign slogans?”

On the issue of Rouhani’s interview with CNN’s Christian Amanpour in September about detained Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, Asgharzadeh said, “When we see his response to a simple question from a foreign reporter about the existence of an imprisoned journalist, we see and understand how much of a distance there is between him and those who voted for him.” Rouhani told Amanpour in the interview that he didn’t believe a journalist would be imprisoned for doing his work and there must be other issues involved.

Asgharzadeh believes “Innumerable questions in the public opinion are taking shape,” and questioned how Rouhani could meet the demands of the middle and poorer classes when he could not even implement the charters he himself believes in. He criticized the recent pacts made with Russia, which he called “unreliable,” and asked where in Rouhani’s campaign slogans he had promised such a deal.