On 26 February, Iranians voted to elect the new members of their legislative body and the assembly of experts. While the parliament’s resultant shift to the centre does not give the president, Hassan Rouhani, a free hand, it will help him in his efforts to engage Iran’s Gulf Arab neighbours.
Presidential elections are generally what draw the broader public to the polls inIran, while parliamentary elections galvanise the Islamic Republic’s base. Candidates and camps fight for the soul of the Islamic revolution and the country’s future. This year, the struggle was more visible than usual. More than half of eligible voters showed up to the polls, and helped key reformist-backed candidates and moderates gain seats in parliament. Let us put this in context. In July 2015, Rouhani agreed to a nuclear deal, which limited Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Much of the population was in favour of the deal, but a small yet vocal minority remained opposed. Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and the parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, quietened that opposition and encouraged the deal’s implementation. Iran’s hardliners had lost the battle but the war continued. They attacked many of the president’s stated priorities and his methods, including the attempts to tackle regional instability and insecurity.
In particular, Rouhani’s efforts to engage with Saudi Arabia faced staunch opposition from hardliners. One of the first goals of his new administration was to open a dialogue with Iran’s neighbours, but members of parliament relentlessly attacked the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, for reaching out to Riyadh. It was only thanks to the support of Khamenei and Larijani over the nuclear deal that Zarif and Rouhani had enough political capital to continue to pursue their agenda.
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