This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani came to New York last year for his debut at the UN General Assembly, there was optimism that a fundamental shift between the United States and Iran was at hand.
Rouhani seemed the ideal interlocutor for the administration of President Barack Obama because of his stature as a pragmatic pillar of the Iranian regime, strong showing in presidential elections and record of diplomatic achievement when he was a top nuclear negotiator a decade ago.
But as Rouhani returns to the annual gabfest on the East River, it is no longer sufficient for him to be the anti-Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While Iran is certainly in a better position now than it was under Rouhani’s dysfunctional predecessor, the Iranian leader has yet to achieve a long-term nuclear agreement that would definitely ease international economic sanctions against Iran and permit its full integration into a still heavily US-influenced global power structure.
Indeed, uncertainty about the nuclear talks led to speculation that Rouhani might skip this year’s summit. Rouhani had also indicated that he did not want to follow the example of Ahmadinejad, who never missed a General Assembly during eight years in office even though he had little to show for his erratic and often self-defeating diplomacy. In the end, however, Rouhani is channeling Ahmadinejad by planning a frenetic schedule of media and other appearances — in addition to an expected speech before the General Assembly on Sept. 25.
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