By Majid Rafizadeh, Gatestone Institute—
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has long been labeled in the West a “moderate” or “diplomatic sheikh” who will change the Iranian regime for the better. The Obama administration reached a deal with the Rouhani’s administration and lifted sanctions against the Iranian regime; and now the Biden administration is forging ahead to revive former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Rouhani before he leaves office.
Here, for perusal, are the eight-years of records of the so-called moderate President of Iran.
In his first term of presidency, beginning in 2015, Rouhani sealed the nuclear deal — which, incidentally, Iran never signed — with the Obama administration. As a result of the deal, both the United Nations’ four rounds of sanctions and US sanctions against the Iran’s regime were swiftly lifted and the ruling mullahs joined the global financial system. Billions of dollars flew into the regime’s treasury.
The beneficiaries of having sanctions lifted were not, however, the ordinary people of Iran. Instead, the regime’s officials, those connected to them, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its elite branch called the Quds Force, and Iran’s militia and terror groups across the Middle East profited from the Obama nuclear deal.
Under Rouhani’s rule, in fact, the ordinary people’s living standards in Iran kept deteriorating. The country’s rising inflation reached a level witnessed in Iran only during World War I. Last month, an Iranian official, Ehsan Khandouzi, acknowledged on his Twitter account:
“Recently, the 75-year-old record of inflation was broken in Iran; If this is not happening then, the Central Bank should publish the February report. Iran only has seen inflation over 50 percent in the years of occupation (World War I).”
When it came to Rouhani’s promises of providing greater political freedom and improving human rights, Iran’s crackdown on free speech and its levels of oppression continued to rise under his watch. During the widespread protests of 2017 and 2019, the regime brutally suppressed the desperate levels of political unrest.
Rouhani’s administration allowed one of the bloodiest crackdowns on protesters: more than 1,500 individuals were killed, many were arrested and tortured, and some high profile figures such as the champion wrestler Navid Afkari and dissident journalist Rouhollah Zam were mercilessly executed.
Under Rouhani’s watch, systematic persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, including the Kurds, Sunnis and Christians also escalated .
During Rouhani’s tenure, thousands of people were executed, including women and children. In its 2019 global review of the death penalty, Amnesty International stated: “Iran retained its place as the world’s second-most prolific executioner after China.” The Human Rights Watch “World Report 2021” stated that the Tehran regime is still one of the leading executioners in the world. In total, according to official estimates of the Iranian regime, more than 4,000 people were executed in Rouahni’s two-term presidency: an average of 10 executions a week for eight years. To execute political prisoners, the regime’s judiciary accuses defendants of vaguely defined charges labeled as “national security crimes,” which include “moharebeh” (enmity against God), “ifsad fil arz” (sowing corruption on Earth), and “baghi” (armed rebellion). Continue Reading…