A key complicating factor in the ‘if and when’ conjecture over the U.S. and Iran re-opening talks on the Join Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in light of the new incumbent at the White House, President Joe Biden, is that Iran has its own Presidential Election scheduled for 18 June this year. With current President, Hassan Rouhani, constitutionally prohibited from running due to his having already served two terms in the top job, this Presidential Election will essentially be a referendum on whether the Iranian people want to stick with a relatively more West-leaning, reformist government – exemplified initially by the Rouhani regime – or whether it wants a return to the more anti-West, hardline governments before Rouhani took power first on 3 August 2013. In broad terms, Rouhani’s Presidential Election victory in 2013 was founded on the generally young and highly-educated population’s belief that by pursuing the more […]