Rohani’s victory may curb support for attack on Iran

ranian President-elect Hassan Rohani’s vow to improve ties with the world may have rewound the clock on a potential military strike against his country over its nuclear program, according to an article published by Bloomberg on Monday.
“Those advocating an attack on Iran have been dealt a setback,” the article quoted Suzanne Maloney, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington, as saying. “The chances of an attack on Iran are even more remote than they have been in many years.”

Western countries signaled an interest in engaging with Rohani. The British Foreign Office urged him to set a new course for Iran, and the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she hoped his victory will lead to a “swift diplomatic solution” to the standoff over the nuclear program.

The question is whether Rohani will have influence beyond changing the image Iran presents to the world.

Rohani’s election offers hope for a renewed diplomatic effort, said Geneive Abdo, a research fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center.

“If the rhetoric from Iran changes, this gives (U.S. President Barack) Obama once again the opportunity to call for some type of engagement,” she said. “It will completely de-escalate the sense of urgency for the U.S. to take action on Iran.”

Sanctioning a moderate, well-respected, judicious, articulate cleric is hard, said Cliff Kupchan, director for the Middle East at the New York-based Eurasia Group.