Send Flowers to Loved ones

Runoff elections late last month in Iran confirmed that a fragile, if working, plurality of moderate and reform politicians aligned with President Hassan Rouhani would control Iran’s 10th parliament — ending more than 13 years of conservative dominance in the assembly. Having swept all of the legislative seats in Tehran in the first round of voting, the reformist campaign to hold the line against radicalism at the ballot box proved to be no less potent in the provinces than it had been in the capital. Against the odds and a formidable array of institutional barriers to participation, the unexpected triumph of the Rouhani coalition served as evidence that democratic breakthroughs continue to be a feature of the authoritarian landscape in Iran.Read More