Rouhani’s first interview after protests backfires

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s first televised interview after the recent unrest appears to have failed to alleviate much of the public's angry feelings.

Popular TV host Reza Rashidpour, who is a Reformist, was chosen for the first time by Iranian state TV to interview Rouhani. While he promised viewers a challenging interview, this did not happen, and both the public and analysts slammed both the interviewer and Rouhani.

In the televised interview conducted Jan. 22, the moderate Rouhani answered detailed questions and rumors about himself and the country, turning the show into the first presidential interview in which Rouhani — known as the “diplomat sheikh” — didn’t once talk about foreign policy or mention the nuclear deal.

Asked about the recent weakening of the rial, Rouhani said, “We have no shortage of foreign exchange and this fluctuation is not long-term.” He also denied rumors that the government was seeking to address its budget deficit by intentionally not supplying enough currency to the market to benefit from the arbitrage between the official and open-market exchange rates.