26 May, 2017
Iranian voters are set to cast ballot in the country's presidential election on Friday. It would be better for Iran and the wider region if Rouhani won, if only because it would deprive hawks in Washington and Riyadh of a new excuse for even more aggressive policies.
The nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers ended a decadeslong crisis that removed sanctions on almost 80 million Iranians and potentially averted another military confrontation in the Middle East involving the United States.
On Monday, Tehran's conservative Mayor, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, also said that he withdrew from the presidential race to back another conservative candidate, Ebrahim Raisi.
The former prosecutor is now head of a multi-billion-dollar charitable foundation that manages donations to Iran's holiest shrine in the city of Mashhad.
The news Qalibaf was standing down broke as Raisi was delivering a speech in Shiraz, thrilling his supporters.
Iranian president and presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani attends a campaign rally in the capital Tehran on May 13, 2017.
Iran has since resumed crucial oil exports to Europe and concluded billion-dollar deals to purchase passenger planes, but the effects have yet to trickle down to most Iranians, creating an opening for hard-liners who feel Rouhani gave too much away. Raisi has been campaigning on that, proposing populist cash payments for the poor that have proven popular in the country in the past under Ahmadinejad. "I ask all my supporters around the country to use all their capacity to help my brother, Mr Ebrahim Raisi, win the election".
In recent weeks, Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate cleric, has lashed out at the conservatives over issues from freedom of speech to corruption and wealthy institutions that don't pay tax. Qalibaf's endorsement may push those so far unexcited by the election into voting for Rouhani, said Cliff Kupchan, the chairman of the Eurasia Group. He said crowds were shouting slogans demanding the release of reformist politicians Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been held under house arrest since 2011.
While Raisi stands to benefit from Qalibaf's withdrawal, analysts cautioned that he won't automatically bank all of his fellow conservative's support.
