Trump vs. Hillary: Who's Better for Iran?

Akbar Ganji

Politics, Middle East

Iranians wonder which will do less damage to Obama’s opening.

The U.S. presidential election and its outcome will greatly influence the fate of many nations, in particular those in the Middle East. Consequently these nations, their political leaders and their people are closely following developments here in the United States. Iran is no exception, especially since all the major candidates have spoken repeatedly about Iran. The question that many Iranians are asking is which candidate, Donald Trump or Hillary Rodham Clinton, will be better for Iran in terms of bilateral relations between the two countries?

Iran and the U.S. Elections

There is no unanimous thinking in Iran when it comes to the United States. Not only do the Iranian people and the Islamic Republic’s leadership think differently about the United States, but there are also serious differences between, on the one hand, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his supporters, and on the other, President Hassan Rouhani and his moderate and reformist backers. In a meeting with senior officials on June 14, Khamenei stated that in conversation with him some officials [meaning President Rouhani and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani] defend reestablishing diplomatic relations with the United States, adding,

“Over the years many have spoken to me and there have been many who truly believed that this [diplomatic relations with the United States] is possible, [but] they admitted later on, not to me, [but] in my absence and in official meetings to make decisions [regarding the state’s affairs] that his [Khamenei’s] reasoning [for opposing relations with the United States] cannot be argued with. They are right, the reasons that I have against this has no counterarguments.”

In the same speech, Khamenei angrily rejected the views of those officials that advocate rapprochement with the United States in order to resolve the issues between the two countries diplomatically. He reminded the officials that Congress and Israel admit freely that they are Iran’s enemy, and that Congress continuously approves new resolutions and laws against Iran that the president signs. Khamenei also claimed that President Obama and his cabinet take hostile positions with regard to Iran, and to prove this, he said,