Vox Sentences is written by Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind.
Iran so far away
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
Polls are now closed and vote counting is beginning in the Iranian presidential election. Early indications are that incumbent Hassan Rouhani is set to be reelected, defeating hardliner Ebrahim Raisi. [BBC]
Western governments are interpreting the election as a referendum on the 2015 deal that Rouhani cut with the US and other Western powers to limit the country's nuclear program. But domestically, much of the debate centers on the country's economic problems and the candidates' debate over freedom of expression. [NYT / Thomas Erdbrink]
Raisi's victory would have huge ramifications for diplomacy, and almost certainly end the nuclear deal. It would also make him the frontrunner to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the country’s supreme leader. [The Guardian / Emma Graham-Harrison]
That has given him some odd fans — like former Reagan/Bush official, noted neoconservative, and convicted criminal Elliott Abrams, who wrote a piece championing Raisi, saying, "Raisi is the true face of the Islamic Republic, while Rouhani is a façade. … We are far better off, as we were when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president, when there are no illusions about Iran’s regime and the men who lead it." [Politico Mag / Elliott Abrams]
The political coalitions in Iran are a bit distinct from those in the US or most Western countries. The religious hardliners tend to support bigger welfare state programs, in particular a program initiated by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that provides unconditional cash directly to households, financed by oil revenues. [NYT / Thomas Erdbrink]
Raisi has promised to boost those payments, while Rouhani has argued that the program (which bears a lot of similarities to “basic income” proposals in the US and elsewhere) discourages work. A new study suggests it doesn’t reduce work at all — but does direct a lot of money to poor people. [Economic Research Forum / Djavad Salehi-Isfahani and Mohammed Mostafavi-Dehzooei]
None of that is to defend Raisi or Ahmadinejad at all. But politics in any country is complicated, and not defined solely by the policies that (correctly) elicit outrage in the US.
www.fotavgeia.blogspot.com
Iran so far away
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
Polls are now closed and vote counting is beginning in the Iranian presidential election. Early indications are that incumbent Hassan Rouhani is set to be reelected, defeating hardliner Ebrahim Raisi. [BBC]
Western governments are interpreting the election as a referendum on the 2015 deal that Rouhani cut with the US and other Western powers to limit the country's nuclear program. But domestically, much of the debate centers on the country's economic problems and the candidates' debate over freedom of expression. [NYT / Thomas Erdbrink]
Raisi's victory would have huge ramifications for diplomacy, and almost certainly end the nuclear deal. It would also make him the frontrunner to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the country’s supreme leader. [The Guardian / Emma Graham-Harrison]
That has given him some odd fans — like former Reagan/Bush official, noted neoconservative, and convicted criminal Elliott Abrams, who wrote a piece championing Raisi, saying, "Raisi is the true face of the Islamic Republic, while Rouhani is a façade. … We are far better off, as we were when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president, when there are no illusions about Iran’s regime and the men who lead it." [Politico Mag / Elliott Abrams]
The political coalitions in Iran are a bit distinct from those in the US or most Western countries. The religious hardliners tend to support bigger welfare state programs, in particular a program initiated by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that provides unconditional cash directly to households, financed by oil revenues. [NYT / Thomas Erdbrink]
Raisi has promised to boost those payments, while Rouhani has argued that the program (which bears a lot of similarities to “basic income” proposals in the US and elsewhere) discourages work. A new study suggests it doesn’t reduce work at all — but does direct a lot of money to poor people. [Economic Research Forum / Djavad Salehi-Isfahani and Mohammed Mostafavi-Dehzooei]
None of that is to defend Raisi or Ahmadinejad at all. But politics in any country is complicated, and not defined solely by the policies that (correctly) elicit outrage in the US.
www.fotavgeia.blogspot.com
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