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| Iranian election results: cynics' and reformists' views from Washington | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The results of Iran’s twin elections help to explain why the ballot box still matters in Iran, in spite of unfair disqualifications of candidates at home and the raucous cynicism of sceptics – mainly out of Washington. | The results of Iran’s twin elections help to explain why the ballot box still matters in Iran, in spite of unfair disqualifications of candidates at home and the raucous cynicism of sceptics – mainly out of Washington. |
| One US journalist was so angry that Iranian Jews can elect an MP of their own, he tweeted “totally spontaneous scenes from a Tehran petting zoo” when sharing an article displaying a Tehran synagogue transformed into a polling station. | One US journalist was so angry that Iranian Jews can elect an MP of their own, he tweeted “totally spontaneous scenes from a Tehran petting zoo” when sharing an article displaying a Tehran synagogue transformed into a polling station. |
| A Wall Street Journal commentator is so intent on regime change, he insinuates the majority of Iranian electorates cannot be trusted to determine their own fate, accusing some of betraying the “pro-democracy spirit of that summer”, referring to the 2009 post-election unrest. | A Wall Street Journal commentator is so intent on regime change, he insinuates the majority of Iranian electorates cannot be trusted to determine their own fate, accusing some of betraying the “pro-democracy spirit of that summer”, referring to the 2009 post-election unrest. |
| “Can you blame them?” he asked. “The bloody crackdown against the 2009 post-election uprising, followed by the cataclysms in Syria, led them to conclude that mass protest is hopeless.” No mention that many of the same people who payed the highest price in 2009 encouraged Iranians to vote, including the mother of Sohrab Arabi, a 19-year-old student whose death under mysterious circumstances turned him into a protest symbol. | “Can you blame them?” he asked. “The bloody crackdown against the 2009 post-election uprising, followed by the cataclysms in Syria, led them to conclude that mass protest is hopeless.” No mention that many of the same people who payed the highest price in 2009 encouraged Iranians to vote, including the mother of Sohrab Arabi, a 19-year-old student whose death under mysterious circumstances turned him into a protest symbol. |
| Related: Iran’s elections have given moderates a boost – but not a free hand | Dina Esfandiary and Ariane Tabatabai | Related: Iran’s elections have given moderates a boost – but not a free hand | Dina Esfandiary and Ariane Tabatabai |
| The Bloomberg View columnist Eli Lake, writing from a country where one of the main presidential frontrunners is Donald Trump, writes off the importance of alliances and elections in Iran because he is not satisfied that reformist-backed candidates in Iran are reformist enough. “The logic here is that, at the very least, voters could protest the most reactionary hardliners in favor of the slightly less reactionary hardliners. This is hardly a victory for democratic change in Iran.” | The Bloomberg View columnist Eli Lake, writing from a country where one of the main presidential frontrunners is Donald Trump, writes off the importance of alliances and elections in Iran because he is not satisfied that reformist-backed candidates in Iran are reformist enough. “The logic here is that, at the very least, voters could protest the most reactionary hardliners in favor of the slightly less reactionary hardliners. This is hardly a victory for democratic change in Iran.” |
| Other commentators have tried to balance these views. “Iran, in other words, is becoming more democratic in spite of itself,” writes Shervin Malekzadeh in the Washington Post, explaining how Iranian elections have marginalised radicals and consolidated a new political centre. “Everywhere I went in Tehran last week, I heard the same theme: moderation and standing firm before the forces of radicalism.” | Other commentators have tried to balance these views. “Iran, in other words, is becoming more democratic in spite of itself,” writes Shervin Malekzadeh in the Washington Post, explaining how Iranian elections have marginalised radicals and consolidated a new political centre. “Everywhere I went in Tehran last week, I heard the same theme: moderation and standing firm before the forces of radicalism.” |
| Farideh Farhi, writing in LobeLog, observed the recent two elections as “the most significant (and interesting) elections in Iran’s post-revolution history”. It was the alliances both of the reformists with moderates and the conservatives among themselves that made all the difference, she argued. | Farideh Farhi, writing in LobeLog, observed the recent two elections as “the most significant (and interesting) elections in Iran’s post-revolution history”. It was the alliances both of the reformists with moderates and the conservatives among themselves that made all the difference, she argued. |
| “Despite heated rhetoric, one side accusing the other of being the tool of outside forces, and the other accusing the other of being extremist, the over-the-top language functioned as an instrument of persuasion in the competition for votes and not an instrument of elimination of the opponent from the competition,” she wrote. “It is about time to talk less about Iranians moving in one direction or another sheep-like in droves and begin paying more attention to the political multiplicity embedded in the provincial politics of a socioeconomically and culturally diverse country.” | “Despite heated rhetoric, one side accusing the other of being the tool of outside forces, and the other accusing the other of being extremist, the over-the-top language functioned as an instrument of persuasion in the competition for votes and not an instrument of elimination of the opponent from the competition,” she wrote. “It is about time to talk less about Iranians moving in one direction or another sheep-like in droves and begin paying more attention to the political multiplicity embedded in the provincial politics of a socioeconomically and culturally diverse country.” |
| Hooman Majd, sarcastically invoking a Muslim religious ritual when performing ghusl (ablution) after touching an unclean, “wash, rinse, repeat”, tries to examine how much change Iranians really want. Are Iranians less reformist than US commentators wish them to be? | Hooman Majd, sarcastically invoking a Muslim religious ritual when performing ghusl (ablution) after touching an unclean, “wash, rinse, repeat”, tries to examine how much change Iranians really want. Are Iranians less reformist than US commentators wish them to be? |
| “Iranians are good at giving the finger,” he writes, and their fingers stained by the ink, showed fingers to two groups of people: hardliners at home and cynics abroad who claim that elections don’t matter. He argues that they raised their fingers to hardliners by voting for Hassan Rouhani, the moderate cleric, three years ago and once again throwing their weight behind the candidates favoured by Mohammad Khatami, who faces a great deal of restrictions on his movement and activities. Iranian media are banned from mentioning Khatami’s name or publishing his photograph. | “Iranians are good at giving the finger,” he writes, and their fingers stained by the ink, showed fingers to two groups of people: hardliners at home and cynics abroad who claim that elections don’t matter. He argues that they raised their fingers to hardliners by voting for Hassan Rouhani, the moderate cleric, three years ago and once again throwing their weight behind the candidates favoured by Mohammad Khatami, who faces a great deal of restrictions on his movement and activities. Iranian media are banned from mentioning Khatami’s name or publishing his photograph. |
| Related: Five lessons from Iran's 2016 elections | Related: Five lessons from Iran's 2016 elections |
| “When the final tally is official, there will be many conservatives in the assembly of experts, including the other well-known hardliner, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, but the collective finger given by voters to the likes of Mesbah-Yazdi will not be easily forgotten by them. Wash, rinse and repeat,” Majd writes in Al Monitor. | “When the final tally is official, there will be many conservatives in the assembly of experts, including the other well-known hardliner, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, but the collective finger given by voters to the likes of Mesbah-Yazdi will not be easily forgotten by them. Wash, rinse and repeat,” Majd writes in Al Monitor. |
| “If some western observers hope that reformists (still not a majority in the government) – even those too liberal to even qualify to run for election, those under house arrest or those languishing in prison – are looking to normalise relations with Israel, drop support of Hezbollah or the Palestinians, and join the Western bloc in demanding that Bashar al-Assad must go from Syria, then they are delusional.” | “If some western observers hope that reformists (still not a majority in the government) – even those too liberal to even qualify to run for election, those under house arrest or those languishing in prison – are looking to normalise relations with Israel, drop support of Hezbollah or the Palestinians, and join the Western bloc in demanding that Bashar al-Assad must go from Syria, then they are delusional.” |
| Majd continues: “If they believe that Iranians on the whole wish for those things, they are perhaps also delusional. Yes, Iranians want change. They want a betterment of their lives, they want peace with their neighbours, they want radical extremists such as the Islamic State to be defeated, they want to be part of the world community, they want to be respected, they want technology (especially a fast Internet), they want jobs and they want their kids to be more successful than they are. What they don’t want is to be told that their vote doesn’t count, or that it doesn’t matter.” | Majd continues: “If they believe that Iranians on the whole wish for those things, they are perhaps also delusional. Yes, Iranians want change. They want a betterment of their lives, they want peace with their neighbours, they want radical extremists such as the Islamic State to be defeated, they want to be part of the world community, they want to be respected, they want technology (especially a fast Internet), they want jobs and they want their kids to be more successful than they are. What they don’t want is to be told that their vote doesn’t count, or that it doesn’t matter.” |