27 May, 2017
Addressing his first press conference after being re-elected as Iran's president, Rouhani said that Tehran has always favoured good ties with the regional and global countries. "We are manufacturing weapons and are capable of producing any type of weapons we need", the Iranian president said.
Rouhani also criticized a meeting U.S. President Donald Trump attended in Saudi Arabia, describing it as a "show-off" that "will not have any political and practical values".
In response to the recent billion-dollar deals signed between Trump and the Saudi government, Rouhani said, "You can't solve terrorism just by giving your people's money to a superpower".
The balloting is likely to spell the end of the 12-year tenure of conservative Tehran mayor Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf, who stood in the presidential elections before withdrawing in favour of Rouhani's main challenger, the hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi.
"The Iranian people voted for moderation as they know a prosperous economy and jobs can only happen through investment, and investment through freedom and interaction with the world", he said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has at times voiced support for anti-Syrian government militants who even receive medical treatments in a field hospital in occupied Golan Heights.
The middle-class Iranians in the Tehran neighborhoods who brought Rouhani his victory, often by waiting for hours in long lines at polling stations, drove their cars and played loud music in jubilation, often stopping to get out and dance, ignoring a ban on such gatherings.
The Guardian Council, the powerful body that vets candidates for Iranian elections, controls who can run for president. "I would worry about the more confrontational policy of the IRGC in the Persian Gulf. and more confrontational policy with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia", said Javedanfar.
But in post-deal Iran the desire to resist USA influence and to reassert the Islamic Republic's fundamental self is no longer confined to rhetoric-and here we come to the second level.
Trump also accused Iran of "deadly funding, training and equipping of terrorists and militias". "We will not wait for them and their permission". Our missiles are for peace and for defence. Iran's close relationship with Russian Federation is well known, yet if Russian Federation and the US manage to beef up their cooperation in the Middle East, Iran may find the opportunity to reduce its dependence vis-a-vis Russian Federation. Iran's president has no say over these areas, according to experts.
At the same time, the USA imposed new sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program and said it was continuing to review Iran's adherence to the 2015 nuclear accord.
While Trump called the Iranian nuclear agreement "the worst deal ever" while campaigning, since taking office he has refused to rip it up, concluding, rightly, that he would be blamed for destroying the world's best - and now only - hope for keeping nuclear weapons out of Iranian hands.
