How Rouhani Administration Is Reshaping Its Image in Public Opinion
Iran’s official calendar has named the first week of Shahrivar (last week of August) after the publicly elected administration. This fourth and last one for the Rouhani administration’s first term has been put to good use. The week started with the cabinet visiting Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The tradition has always begun with reports by the ministers and the president on the country’s executive affairs and ended with advice from the leader. The latter usually serves as cue into partisan policies for and against the administration in a coming year. If the leader welcomes or endorses the ‘achievements’ of an administration, its opponents will be hushed for quite a while. If the opposite happens, which is a rarity, the one hushed is the administration that will come under fire, even from friends.
“On this occasion, I deem it necessary to thank the efforts of the administration. The reports that the gentlemen delivered were very good, including the reports delivered by Mr. President, the honorable First Vice President and other ministers and vice presidents. There were very positive and good points in these reports. It will be good to reflect these reports in the real sense of the word so that the people hear about the administration’s performance. As was mentioned in the meeting, our main resource and capital are the people. The people’s trust and hope help all administrations. We need this. By Allah’s favor, this task [reflecting the reports] should be done by the national media and others so that the people hear about it. I thank you gentlemen for the efforts that you have made,” Khamenei.ir quoted the SL as saying.
It did not take the administration much time to take the cue from these remarks. In fact, in less than 24 hours, billboards and banners that provided, in brief, information, stats and figures and boasted the achievements of the Administration of Prudence and Hope flooded the capital city of Tehran. Dolat.ir (abbreviated in Persian also as PAD), a website with the same aim, suddenly upped a new beta version. A linked Twitter account, inactive for about 200 days, resumed work. A corresponding Telegram channel with six thousand members and an Instagram account are also parts of the project.
Scroll down on each of them and you will see a long list of achievements, ranging from wheat reserves to supply domestic demands for 700 days to foreign trade balance becoming positive after 80 years. Foreign policy developments have also shown Iran’s is adopting a more vigorous stance in the region. This includes unprecedented cooperation with Russia, with India as well as reconciliation with Turkey. Apart from what has really been achieved in the past three years, many see this as the administration’s first real media appearance after the nuclear deal’s implementation day. The slow process Iran is undergoing for its global economy comeback has sparked constant criticism from the Principlist camp. Already on the defensive, the administration almost went into a blackout when the pay slip scandal hit headlines. Despite a rather logical response, that included sacking of the offenders and rectifying regulations that allowed the payment of those astronomical figure, the scandal has had its unfair impact on public opinion.
On the offensive end now, the Rouhani administration and its adherents have already tried some potentially fatal blows to rivals in the upcoming election.
The state-run Irandaily, the official organ of the Iranian administration, reported last week that authorities in Tehran have detained a Greek national, accused of embezzling money from smuggled oil and selling three oil tankers for $100 million. The Greek national, working with Ahmadinejad’s administration, has apparently controlled eight Iranian oil tankers, only five of which have been brought back to Iran.
Sitting Tehran Mayor and the last presidential runner-up Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf is also now under pressure for as a series of documents have surfaced showing the handover of Tehran real estate, including uptown apartments and villas, to individuals ranging from City Council members to Principlist figures and journalists. Me’mari News, the website that originally published the leaked docs obtained from the General Inspection Office, linked to the judiciary, is now blocked by judiciary verdict. The site cannot be reached from abroad, too.
The suspects, led by Ghalibaf, and recently reelected chair of the City Council Mahdi Chamran, have written open letters, denying the reports and calling on judiciary officials to crackdown on the whistleblowers. The Principlist media have also joined hands to defend their own camp, calling the reports ‘astronomical lies’, trying to eradicate the memory of the astronomical pay slips.
As politicians say, the next presidential election will be focused on the pros and cons of the nuclear deal. This could make the Supreme Leader’s position on the issue more prominently decisive.
In fact, in the recent cabinet members meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei touched the issue of the nuclear deal, stressing on the other side’s untrustworthiness, deviousness and treachery, “particularly that of America”. After an anecdote to assert his argument that Iran should not have given the enemy anything “in cash” before a guarantee that it would be paid back, Ayatollah Khamenei provided elaboration on his criticism of the nuclear deal, giving the Rouhani administration even more impetus.
“In any case, we thank those individuals who really worked day and night in the area of the Bar-Jaam. I have certain criticisms about the Bar-Jaam and I have some objections to it. And I have mentioned it, both to you and in public. However, this objection is directed at the other side, not to our side. This objection is not directed at our own officials because our officials made their efforts and did their best. It is the other side that is vicious and treacherous.”
This comes in the wake of recent reports that a dual national involved in nuclear talks as a banking advisor has been arrested over espionage charges. The judiciary has pledged investigation and the ministry of foreign affairs has withdrawn from its earlier dismissal to that of awaiting judicial decision and saying that it is impossible for the ministry to vet every advisor.
While different branches and cohorts in power sometimes failed to cooperate and coordinate, the phantom of a coalition favoring Rouhani for reelection is already looming large in the eyes hardliner Principlists.
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president and Rouhani’s long-time ally, has implied his support for the latter’s reelection. In the meantime, Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, known to be Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani’s right hand and a potential candidate himself, has also expressed hope that Rouhani could win the race in the first round. The Reformists’ support for Rouhani is now an acknowledged fact and several Principlist figures have shown interest in making a deal with Rouhani.