Rouhani gets a boost from US sanctions waiver ahead of election

Despite tough rhetoric, the Trump administration extended the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions under the 2015 deal that was the centrepiece of the Iranian president's efforts to end his country's isolation and rebuild its economy.

A girl holds a poster of Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi during a campaign rally in Tehran on May 17, 2017. TIMA via Reuters

Tehran // The US decision to stick by the nuclear deal with Iran, despite new sanctions on its missile programme, provided welcome news for president Hassan Rouhani on Thursday, a day before his bid for re-election.

The administration of US president Donald Trump chose to continue waiving nuclear-related sanctions on Wednesday despite its criticism of the agreement.

That was a relief to Mr Rouhani, who made the 2015 nuclear deal the centrepiece of his efforts to end Iran’s isolation and rebuild its economy with foreign investment.

He faces a tough battle for re-election on Friday against hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who has called for a much tougher stance against the West and says the nuclear deal has not improved the lives of the poor.

But the Trump administration, dominated by fiercely anti-Iran sentiment, balanced the sanctions waivers with new measures against Iranian defence officials and a Chinese business tied to Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.

The US says the programme is a breach of international law because the missiles could carry nuclear warheads in the future.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and its foreign ministry on Thursday condemned the new US sanctions and announced plans to impose its own against “nine US individuals and companies”.

Mr Trump had threatened to tear up the nuclear deal during his campaign and has launched a review of its terms, but until then the deal requires him to renew sanctions relief at regular intervals.

His first deadline fell this week, related to sanctions on oil purchases through the Iranian central bank – part of a 2012 law called the National Defence Authorisation Act – that must be waived every 120 days.

The Trump administration will have to waive more sanctions next month if it wants to stick by the nuclear deal.

The US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said last month that Iran was complying with its side of the bargain, but has described the country as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.

Washington has maintained a raft of other sanctions related to human rights and the missile programme that continue to stifle Iran’s efforts to rebuild its foreign trade.

This has been a major issue in the Iranian election, with Mr Raisi accusing Mr Rouhani of making too many concessions without gaining any economic benefits.

Although oil sales have rebounded since the deal came into effect in January last year, Iran’s continued exclusion from the international banking system has prevented it from signing much-needed trade and investment deals with Europe and Asia.

Mr Rouhani has vowed to work towards the removal of remaining sanctions and called for more time to allow the benefits of the deal to reach ordinary Iranians.

The 68-year-old cleric, a moderate within Iran’s political system, has history on his side when Iranians vote on Friday. No incumbent president has failed to win re-election since 1981, when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s current supreme leader, became president himself.

Political analysts and the scant polling data available suggest that Mr Rouhani will come out on top among the four candidates left running, though an outright win is by no means assured. Failure to secure a majority on Friday would send the two top vote-getters into a run-off a week later.

Mr Rouhani’s supporters streamed into downtown Tehran for rallies that lasted into the early hours of Thursday, just ahead of a 24-hour no-campaigning period before the vote. The rallies were largely peaceful although some Rouhani supporters faced off against smaller crowds supporting Mr Raisi.

A law professor and former prosecutor, Mr Raisi heads an influential religious charitable foundation with vast business holdings. He is seen by many as close to Mr Khamenei and has even been talked about as a possible successor to him.

Mr Raisi won the support of two major clerical bodies and promised to boost welfare payments to the poor. His populist posture, anti-corruption rhetoric and get-tough reputation – bolstered by his alleged role condemning inmates to death during Iran’s 1988 mass execution of thousands of political prisoners – are likely to energise conservative rural and working-class voters.

* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press