Article content

Analysis

The election of Hassan Rowhani, a former nuclear negotiator and top security official, as president of Iran is being cautiously hailed as a rare and promising victory for moderates against hardliners within the Islamic republic, but his ability and willingness to reform the fundamentalist regime is widely doubted.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Canada doubts 'moderate' president-elect will effect real change in Iran Back to video

“We need freedom of speech and the right to criticize. If we cannot criticize decisions, then our problems will not be solved,” said Mr. Rowhani, who took more than 50% of the vote, with more than 70% turnout, according to Iranian Interior Ministry results released Saturday.

Mr. Rowhani called the results “a victory of wisdom, a victory of moderation, a victory of growth and awareness and a victory of commitment over extremism and ill-temper.”

Almost alone among Western countries, Canada disagreed, saying the vote was a sham and Mr. Rowhani a “puppet.”

John Baird, the Foreign Minister, who has openly advocated democratic revolution in Iran since closing Canada’s embassy there last year, said in a statement the election was “effectively meaningless” because only “regime-friendly candidates” were allowed in the race, and none “represents a real alternative for Iranian voters.”