Previewing Iran’s Presidential Election

Iranian politics are poised to become more conservative after the upcoming presidential election, likely resulting in more populist economic policies at home and tenser negotiations with the West -- and potentially an overhaul of Iran’s system of governance. Most of the candidates that Iran’s hard-line-dominated Guardian Council approved to run in the June 18 presidential election are conservative. This suggests a coming shift from President Hassan Rouhani’s more moderate, negotiation-friendly government that has led Iran the last eight years to one that prioritizes preserving Iranian sovereignty and independence from the West. ...