Rouhani’s Iran Backers Come to His Defense After Jeers
By Ladane Nasseri and Yeganeh Salehi - Sep 29, 2013
Hassan Rouhani’s supporters came to his defense today after the Iranian president was jeered by opponents on his arrival in Tehran over the weekend for a phone conversation with President Barack Obama.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, said the call underscored Iran’s “position of strength,” according to comments published in Shargh, the most popular pro-Rouhani newspaper in Tehran. “This shows that Iran has a notable status in the world for the U.S. president to be keen to show his respect,” Boroujerdi said.
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Positive Policies
The division illustrates the balance Rouhani needs to strike between delivering on his pledges to ease sanctions on his country by engaging with world powers including the U.S., while not giving pretexts to conservative entities within the Iranian establishment to condemn his government as surrendering to Western nations.
“I hope Rouhani’s efforts work and Iranians start feeling an improvement in social and economic conditions soon,” Mansour, a 69 year-old retired oil engineer, who like others interviewed for this article asked only to be identified by his first name for security reasons. “I hope Americans do not act in a disappointing way and Iran’s conservatives let the president continue his positive policies.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-29/rouhani-s-iran-backers-come-to-his-defense-after-jeers.html