TEHRAN: Iran’s new president said on Saturday that his countrymen elected him to change the country’s foreign policy and shift away from the bombastic style adopted under his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Hassan Rouhani said his government will adjust its tactics to reach out to world powers. However, he said the Islamic Republic will retain its principles.
“We don’t have the right to use foreign policy to chant slogans or clap,” Rouhani said.
“Foreign policy is not where one can speak or take a position without paying attention,” he said during the inauguration of Iran’s new foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. “People in the June 14 elections declared that they want a new foreign policy,” he said.
Rouhani has pledged to follow a policy of moderation and ease tensions with the outside world. He has also vowed to improve an economy ravaged by international sanctions and mismanagement by empowering technocrats.
He won a landslide victory in June 14 presidential elections, defeating his conservative rivals. Rouhani took the oath of office on August 4 and Iran’s parliament approved all but three of his proposed ministers Thursday.
The core of Rouhani’s team includes figures whose academic pedigrees run through places such as California, Washington, Paris and London. Rouhani himself studied in Scotland, while Zarif is a US-educated veteran diplomat with a doctorate in international law and policy from the University of Denver.
Rouhani said he hopes Zarif’s expertise and years of experience in dealing with Americans as Iran’s top UN envoy will help his government understand the American way of thinking. Zarif worked with Rouhani back when the president was Iran’s top nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005.
“Reconsidering foreign policy doesn’t mean a change in principles because principles remain unchanged,” Rouhani said. “But change in the methods, performance and tactics, which are the demands of the people, must be carried out.” It remains unclear how much Rouhani’s team can influence Iranian policies and foster potential outreach diplomacy, such as direct talks with the US or possible breakthroughs in wider negotiations over Tehran’s suspect nuclear program. (AP)