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Source: http://carnegieendowment.org/files/Karim_Sadjadpour_Revised_Testimony_06182013.pdf
Elections in Iran: The Regime Cementing Its Control
(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) Karim Sadjadpour - Hassan Rowhani is less a reformer than a consummate regime insider who is committed to the preservation of the Islamic Republic. Indeed, if he was anything less, he would not have been permitted to run. His campaign did not focus on pursuing democracy, or altering the Islamic Republic's strategic principles, but on moderating its style more than its substance. Rowhani's victory is unlikely to alter the conditions needed for a rapprochement between the U.S. and Iran. The writer is Senior Associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment.