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Iran's 11th presidential election was held on June 14, 2013. Reformist Hassan Rohani was elected President, winning more than 50 percent of the votes cast. 

Panorama.am held an interview with Iranian studies expert Armen Israyelyan about possible changes in Iran’s domestic and foreign policy.

According to the expert, street parties were held to welcome Rohani’s election, which is evidence of the fact that the newly elected President enjoys wide public support.

“Iran is facing serious domestic and foreign challenges. However, the first move Iranians expect from the President-elect is economic rehabilitation. Iranian economy has seriously suffered in recent years as a result of economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union over Iran’s nuclear program. Time will show if Iran’s new President will manage to reduce the damage caused by economic sanctions,” Israyelyan said.

Commenting on normalization of Iran’s ties with the West, the Iranian studies expert said, “Certainly, progress is impossible without normalization of ties with the West. The United States has already congratulated the Iranian people on their victory and expressed readiness to begin a direct dialogue with the Iranian government over the nuclear program. The United States made a similar proposal to Tehran recently, but Ahmadinejad’s government did not find it expedient to be engaged in talks with the United States under the current circumstances.”

“I think the congratulation by the United States is a positive sign and it can start a new phase in Iran-U.S. relations. However, irrespective of the kind of domestic and foreign policy, Iran’s new President will have to take into account the regional developments,” the expert added.

“Irrespective of the fact what kind of position on domestic and foreign policy Hassan Rohani voiced during the election campaign, only after he officially assumes his office and declares a clear position on Syria, Hezbollah and nuclear issue, the format of development of Iran’s relations with the West will become clear, which will immediately influence Iran’s economy,” Israyelyan said.

Asked what kind of policy Iran will pursue towards the South Caucasus, Israyelyan said, “I think that under the new President, Iran should intensify its policy in the South Caucasus. After the Islamic Revolution, for objective and subjective reasons, Iran has not been very active in the South Caucasus, which resulted in the increase of Turkey’s role in that region. Over the past years, from considerations of the country’s security, Iran paid most attention to the Persian Gulf Region. However, the increase of the role of the U.S. resulting from the change of power in Georgia, strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Israel as well as developments over Karabakh are likely to make Tehran pay more attention to the South Caucasus region.”

As for Armenian-Iranian relations, the Iranian studies expert noted that they will depend on the development of Iran’s relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

“Iran had a balanced position on Karabakh over the past years. Iran believes that the presence of foreign forces in the zone of conflict is a threat to its interests. So I think that the preservation of the current status of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic coincides with Iran’s interests,” the expert added.

The expert reminded that during the election campaign, Rohani spoke of Iran’s foreign policy problems and challenges of relations with some neighboring countries. “It is not an exaggeration to say that Azerbaijan has become a threat to Iran’s security. The actions taken by some Azerbaijani officials pose threat to Iran’s territorial integrity. Therefore, Iran’s responsible officials should not show indifference to Azerbaijan’s threats,” Rohani had told Irdiplomacy.ir.

“I think that being close to the ideology of former Iranian Presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Seyed Mohammad Khatami, Rohani will follow their example (after Iran-Iraq war, they managed to liberalize the economy and integrate to the European community) and using his experience and knowledge in state government, will be able to take the country out of the tough economic condition and create preconditions for the establishment of normal relations with the West,” the expert concluded.