The first year of the presidency of Hassan Rouhani: confrontation between reformists and conservatives on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program (2013-2014)

This article discusses the confrontation between reformists and conservatives in one of Tehran’s priority areas of activity in the mid of 2010s. That was the issue of Iran’s nuclear program. This confrontation took place after the victory of Hassan Rouhani in the presidential election of 2013. An analysis is given of factors that not only contributed to, but also hindered, the Rouhani administration in achieving its goals on the issue of a nuclear agreement with Western countries, and also analyzes the relationship between the president and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on this issue. The article is written on the basis of the official websites of the Iranian Supreme Leader and President, Iranian press materials. Comparative and system analysis methods are used. The problem of Iran’s nuclear program and the first agreements with Western countries to solve this problem are described. The role and influence of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani are compared here. On the one hand, there is control of the supreme leader over all the armed forces of Iran, the judicial system, the Guardian Council (which checks the candidates for elections), the intelligence apparatus, powerful economic funds and various higher state councils that actually have more power than the parliament (such as the State Council for Efficiency, the High Council for National Security, the High Council for the Cultural Revolution and the High Council for Cyberspace). On the other hand, the president is responsible for the government and cannot make any significant decisions on internal and external issues without the consent of the supreme leader. Therefore, it is critically important to assess the balance of power in Iran under the chairmanship of Rouhani and consider not only its capabilities, but also the capabilities that their opponents possessed. Particular attention is paid to the main priorities of Rouhani: resolving economic, administrative and international crises (especially with the USA) that arose as a result of two presidential terms of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013). And the decisive step towards achieving this goal for Rouhani was the conclusion of an agreement with the international community on the nuclear dossier, which, in his opinion, was the main source of Iran’s economic problems. At the end of this article, the author writes that the relationship between the Supreme Leader and the President can best be described as mutually beneficial. But Khamenei was not interested in sharing responsibility for any retreat from the point of view of the nuclear program. If Ali Khamenei came to the conclusion that the political costs of nuclear negotiations far outweighed the economic benefits that they could bring, he would put an end to them again. Otherwise, this would strengthen the Supreme Leader’s conviction regarding the danger of any rapprochement with the West and moderation in foreign policy.

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