Free Republic

In a couple of days, Iran will inaugurate a new president, Hassan Rouhani, which has caused some to speculate that the country is entering a new era. Rouhani has become a favorite "moderate" with much of the Western media, with The New York Times gushing in a recent headline: "President-Elect Stirs Optimism in Iran and West." But such optimism defies history. Rouhani is not a new figure on the Iranian scene. He has served at the highest levels of the Islamic regime for decades. For 16 years, he served as secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, the chief body...