Tag Archives: Hassan Rouhani

In a swipe at his hardline rivals, President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday young Iranian protesters were unhappy about far more than just the economy and they would no longer defer to the views and lifestyle of an aging revolutionary elite.... Iran is already a lot more liberal than Wahabi-Salafist states like Saudi Arabia. It is also democratic, where as the others are hereditary monarchies. What makes Islamic countries Islamic states is that they recognize Islamic law. Iran is hardly...

Not a bad article considering that Project Syndicate is an organ of the corporate elite. The author does recognize that the economic protest is the result of President Rouhani's neoliberal program to deliver the promised increase in prosperity that neoliberals assume to be widely distribute by trickle down. So, even though the article is written from the neoliberal point of view, it does admit the failure of neoliberal reformers to deliver on their promises to the country as a whole,...

Backgrounder. Jatras is one of the few mentioning that some of the economic frustration is the result President Rouhani's neoliberal "reform" that shrank the the welfare state and expanded the market state to improve the economy and integrate Iran into the global economy after the nuclear deal and lifting of some sanctions. This policy further disadvantaged the have-nots that make up the bulk of the protestors. The neoliberal answer is to wait patiently; it takes time for the gains to...