Tony Duheaume wrote an op-ed for Track Persia, entitled “Hardliner Hassan Rouhani: Profile of an astute deceiver” in which he assesses that Rouhani is a manipulator, who has plenty of practice in deceiving the world in order to ensure the survival of the Iranian Regime, no matter the cost.
Duheaume wrote: “In a well-choreographed program of deception, carefully designed to create a moderate in the eyes of the West, Rouhani has deceived Western leaders.”
Rouhani is not the new face of the Regime, who will shake up the leadership; he is an integral cog in the killing machine that has been in place since before the Regime took power. He was involved, at least somewhat, with the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, and he appoints those involved in the massacre to key cabinet positions like Justice Minister (twice).
He was a key negotiator during the failed 2005 nuclear negotiations, fooling the West into thinking that he was at all moderate and exploiting divisions between Europe and the US in order to continue with Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.
While the West may see a smiling face from Rouhani, the Iranian people are more likely to see the grimace of Pennywise the clown before he murders you.
Since 2013, nearly 4,000 people have executed in Iran and the Iranian Resistance believes that this is part of an overarching programme to slaughter political prisoners, while the US Department of State reports that human rights in Iran are dismal at best.
Duheaume wrote: “Through the election of Rouhani, if any in the West was expecting an era of restraint, they have been in for a massive shock. As far as freedom of speech, arbitrary arrests, executions without any form of fair trial, and all forms of politically motivated killings are concerned, such oppression has vastly increased.”
In short, there is nothing moderate about Rouhani and we must stop pretending that there is.
Duheaume wrote: “Despite Rouhani’s claims of moderation, with his promises of reaching out to the West with a more conciliatory approach over Iran’s nuclear program, there has been no sign of a change within Iran over human rights, and as far as Iran’s intentions toward peace is concerned, its military spending has increased dramatically.”