Rouhani faces major challenges as Iran's new president

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Rouhani faces major challenges as Iran's new president

By Xinhua writers Yang Dingdu, He Guanghai (Xinhua) 09:52, August 04, 2013

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Photo provided by Iranian Supreme Leader's Office on Aug. 3, 2013, shows Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C), attends an endorsement ceremony with the new president Hassan Rouhani (R) and outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Tehran, Iran. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei officially endorsed Hassan Rouhani as the country's new president in a ceremony held here on Saturday. (Xinhua)

TEHRAN, August 3 (Xinhua) -- Hassan Rouhani, who is set to be inaugurated as Iran's 7th president on Sunday, has to brace for major challenges to translate his promises to voters into reality, analysts said.

The results of the presidential election on July 14, in which moderate Rouhani won 50.7 percent of the votes far ahead of his five conservative-principlist rivals, represented the Iranians' strong desire for changes in the domestic and international policies, which can bring about easing of sanctions, better ties with the West and settlement of long-standing nuclear issue.

FACING TOUGHER SANCTIONS

It is widely believed that one of the reasons why Rouhani won the election in July contest was people's belief in his ability to negotiate easing of Western sanctions, which have pushed Iran's inflation rate to more than 30 percent, unemployment rate to around 20 percent and continue to cause the country to lose tens of billions in oil revenues every year.

Despite the growing hopes among Iranians to amend the hardship of the past years, new decision by the U.S. House of Representatives to impose fresh sanctions on Iran's energy sector put the incoming president in a quandary.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill tightening sanctions on Iran's petrol sector, just days before Iranian President-elect is due to be sworn in.

The sanctions already in place have reduced Iran's oil exports by half and the new bill will cut exports by a further one million barrels a day.

Sadeq Zibakalam, a professor of Tehran University, told Xinhua in an interview on Saturday that the fresh move of the U.S. congressmen is indicative of challenges that Rouhani should prepare to confront.

The fact that 400 U.S. congressmen voted for these severe sanctions against Iran right before Rouhani's inauguration shows many U.S. politicians don't want him to succeed, Zibakalam said. " They were too quick to pose fresh sanctions. They did not wait to see what Rouhani can and cannot do on the country's nuclear issue. "

Iran is under substantive political and economic sanctions of the United States and its Western allies due to its controversial nuclear program. The West suspects that Iran's nuclear activities may have military motives while the latter emphasizes its civilian purposes.