Caspian Report - Issue 06 - Winter 2014

lim states or to those countries that
have in the past been sympathetic
to Iranian policies. The notion of “all
nations” as interdependent – including
Tehran’s former adversaries
such as the United States - is indeed
a new type of rhetoric coming from
Tehran, and has made Rouhani into
something of an Iranian internationalist.
If such thinking gains further
momentum in Tehran, then the potential
policy ramifications may be
wide-ranging.
That is the principal test for President
Rouhani and the second fundamental
implication of the pledge he made in
Davos about Iran’s yearning to embrace
the world once again. Is it at all
likely that the Iranian Islamist system
will be open to the kinds of transformative
agenda and an entire new relationship
with the world, which in
effect is what Rouhani is calling for
It is one thing to appreciate Rouhani’s
quixotic language and the fact
that the elite in the Islamic Republic
have perhaps re-discovered the virtues
of being an integral part of the
ROUHANI’S LANGUAGE IN DAVOS WAS TRAIL-BLAZING
IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. HIS SPEECH IN DAVOS WAS
EFFECTIVELY A 180-DEGREE TURN AWAY FROM THE
PURPORTED IDEALS OF “KHODKAFAI” PEDDLED BY HIS
BOSS, AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI.
global economy given the harsh impact
of the sanctions. Still - and this
is something of which the sophisticated
and seasoned Rouhani must be
fully conscious - the re-integration of
the Iranian economy cannot happen
without other and very likely bigger
domestic political adjustments to
some of most hardened and contentious
dogma that remains in place. In
other words, to assume that solving
the Iranian nuclear saga is the path to
Tehran’s total redemption is naïve at
best.
What are those likely bigger political
adjustments The list of demands is
long and will depend on who is asked.
Outside Iran, the United States, Israel
9
CASPIAN REPORT, WINTER 2014
Iran and P5+1
negotiations in
Almaty.