Iran's Choice
On Friday, Iranians will vote for their next president. The race has essentially boiled down to a choice between a centrist and a hardline conservative—the incumbent, Hassan Rouhani, and Ibrahim Raisi, the custodian of the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashad. A clear choice appears to be emerging. Polls in Iran, though not always reliable, are running strongly in Rouhani’s favor; sensible men in the leadership, having tampered with the election results in 2009 only to face massive street protests, are likely to advise abiding by the popular choice.
On the eve of the election, Rouhani’s confidence appears to be surging. In a hard-hitting speech before a huge rally inMashhadon Wednesday, he urged the Revolutionary Guard commanders to heed the advice of the father of the revolution, the late Ayatollah Khomeini, and to refrain from interfering in politics and political parties. Referring indirectly to the Guards’ extensive in business ventures,he said “institutions that wield both arms
