Iran’s succession question: Rouhani’s name resurfaces amid leadership void
Al Jazeera
Rouhani’s legacy of pragmatism and moderation gains renewed relevance amid Iran’s sensitive leadership transition phase.
In Iran’s major turning points, Hassan Rouhani’s name tends to resurface – even when he is no longer at the centre of decision-making. And as the Islamic Republic enters a sensitive transitional phase after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint United States-Israeli strike, the question of which figures might be used to calm the domestic arena or rebalance power inside the system has returned to the forefront.
Rouhani, Iran’s former president (2013–2021), a Muslim leader with a doctorate in law, is not an outsider to the system he once promised to “reform”. He is a product of it: a longtime parliamentarian, a veteran of the national-security apparatus, and a former chief nuclear negotiator who rose to the presidency in 2013 as a pragmatist offering economic relief through diplomacy.
Ali Larijani is a longtime Iranian political insider, often viewed as a pragmatist, who has an important role following the killing of Supreme Leader Khamenei.
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