British-Iranian Journalist Sanam Shantyaei of France 24 Talks on Iran's Recent Elections

For its first meeting of the Spring semester on March 17^th, The AGS Middle East Society was honored to welcome British-Iranian journalist Sanam Shantyaei to talk about the political situation of Iran in the international political landscape.

A specialist of Iran and the Middle East, Sanam Shantyaei has more than a decade of experience as a foreign correspondent and international news television producer.  She notably established Reuters’ TV operations in Tehran, where she covered the Iranian 2009 presidential elections and the mass street protests that followed, as well as the escalation of the nuclear standoff with the West, and the storming of the British embassy in 2011.  She is currently based in Paris, where she is a correspondent for the international news network France 24 and a specialist of Iran coverage.

She shared her expertise with AGS’s students, faculty, alumni, as well as guest students from Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas and Université Paris Sud, during a 30-minute presentation that gave a clear and insightful picture of the stakes of the Iranian elections and the situation of the country since president Rohani came to power in 2013.

Here is a brief summary of her talk:

How much has Iran changed under President Hossan Rohani who came to power in 2013? Iranians had suffered from what is called ‘voter fatigue’ and were reluctant to go to the polls.  Under Ahmadinejad’s administration the country had been economically crippled, not only because of the sanctions, but because of corruption.  Iran’s relations with the international community had deteriorated.  The international image of the country was damaged, especially by such things as Ahmadinejad’s denial of the holocaust.  In addition, in 2009 many Iranians had taken to the streets to protest what they thought were fraudulent elections, to no avail.  “But the closer we got to the 2013 poll, the more we understood that a vote for someone like Hassan Rohani would be a vote for reform and moderation over extremism.”  Rohani was endorsed by the former reformist president Mohammad Khotami for whom he used to be Iran’s nuclear negotiator. They had established a detente with the international community and, for the first time, had scaled back Iran’s uranium enrichment program.  With his reform-leaning policies he managed to win some 70% of Iran’s voters.  The current cabinet has more US college graduates than any other (non-US) country in the world.  Although they still believe in the values of the Islamic republic and the revolution they fought for, having lived in the West they understand the need to modernize and have the ability to act as intermediaries with the West.  They have used social media.  Members of the cabinet have gone on Facebook and Twitter to inform the Iranians about what they are doing.  For example, when the interim agreement was reached during the nuclear negotiations, the foreign minister tweeted five magical words:  “We have reached an agreement.”   That is how we journalists got the news.   Secondly, they used social media to create a positive image of themselves. Rohani took to Twitter to wish all Jews a blessed Rosh Hashanah, which set a different precedent from Ahmadinejad, creating a different image of the Iranian government in the international community.  This is in a context where these social media are banned in Iran.  So what we are witnessing is an administration that is changing the way it is communicating as well as its government policies.  For example, consider the historical nuclear deal.  “I have been covering these negotiations since 2008.  At so many different points we thought it was not going to happen.  And the reason for that was because there was so much opposition coming from so many angles.  There was opposition from Iran’s long-time enemy Israel, from Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia, from Tehran’s hard liners and Washington’s hawks.  None of the groups mentioned wanted an agreement.  So it was up to Zarif, the main negotiator, and Rohani, the president, to make this a success.”  After Zarif shook the hand of President Barack Obama on the sideline of the UN General Assembly, some conservatives in Tehran called for his impeachment.  But Rohani and Zarif were able to succeed because they got the stamp of approval from Iran’s highest official, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.  “If he hadn’t supported the deal we wouldn’t have one today.” After this historic nuclear deal Iran is coming out of the darkness.  Iran is one of the world’s largest oil producers.  In addition to that, 100 billion dollars of Iran’s own assets are being released by the US back into the country.  Rohani travelled to Europe and has managed to sign contracts worth billions of dollars with European countries.  “This was a good deal.  Why?  What was the alternative?  A potential military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which would have drawn in other regional players, at a time when the region has crumbled under the Islamic state group in Iraq and Syria.”  Now the US-led coalition can enlist Iran, the only power with ‘boots on the ground’ into its fight against ISIS. Iran is no longer a nuclear threat against Israel.  But they still face a lot of opposition.  Which brings us to the subject of the recent elections.  These generated a lot of international and media attention because they also involved the election of the Assembly of Experts, who will select the next Supreme Leader.   These will be the most important elections because these people will select the man who runs the country – not Rohani, but the Supreme Leader.  Whoever dominates that council will choose the person who leads Iran for the next generation to come.

Inaugurated last semester as an initiative by AGS students under the impulse of AGS professors Mariam Habibi and Joav Toker, the Middle East Society organizes talks, debates, and screenings around various themes related to Middle Eastern culture and politics.  At each of these events, a few seats are reserved to the public; if you are interested in attending, please write to info@ags.edu.