Iran’s new so-called reformist president is anything but

Last weekend’s elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran gave the victory to Masoud Pezeshkian, a former health minister and heart surgeon whom the ayatollah regime wants to sell as a moderate reformist. Some have already believed this Persian tale.

Just a few days ago, Iran reaffirmed its closeness with Putin. In a telephone call, Pezeshkian expressed his alliance with the Russian regime and his desire to sign a 20-year strategic cooperation agreement. The Iranian doctor and president did not say anything about the massacre Russia had just inflicted at a children’s hospital in Ukraine.

Iran has also become a strategic partner with the dictatorships of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia. It has long supplied them with technology and war training. In these strategic connections, tyranny changes its look, but not its playbook.

Pezeshkian has expressed his unwavering support for Hezbollah terrorists. In a letter sent to Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, the new Iranian president extolled the deep historical roots with Hezbollah and his support for what he called the “resistance” against Israel.

The new Iranian president has a dark history. In 1979, Pezeshkian publicly expressed his support for imposing moral codes against women, implementing political controls and repressing the university sector by brute force. His tone today is soft, but his ideas are every bit as harsh as before.

Iran’s regime is a warmongering regime. Despite its difficult economic situation, Tehran prioritizes financing and equipping irregular militias in the Red Sea, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain. Drones and missiles are never lacking.

Iran’s elections last weekend were neither free nor transparent. Almost 60 percent of the voting-eligible population did not vote, and that’s according to the official numbers. The message was clear: The people do not believe in the authorities or the candidates blessed by the supreme leader. They pressured people to vote and extended voting hours, but nothing changed the people’s fatigue with the farce.

The new leader of Teheran is a president without power. Pezeshkian is a puppet of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The president has no power over the army, police or criminal state security agencies. All of them are appointed and remain loyal to the supreme leader.

Iran is only looking to maneuver through its economic crisis and soften international sanctions. Tehran’s attempt to launder its own image is part of an urgent strategy to quell a crisis that has imperiled its popular support in a nation of 89 million inhabitants.

The regime seeks to clean its footprints over the murder of hundreds of women, athletes and dissidents. The Tehran dictatorship comes from a bloody journey of almost three years, marked by official brutality, public executions, reinforcement of the morality police and intensification of extremist religious norms that violate essential human rights.

Expectations are very low. Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said they “have no expectations that this election will lead to a fundamental change in Iran’s direction or its policies. At the end of the day, it’s not the president that has the ultimate say over the future of Iran’s policy; it is the supreme leader. And of course we have seen the direction that he has chosen to take Iran in. Obviously, if the new president had the authority to make steps to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, to stop funding terrorism, to stop destabilizing activities in the region, those would be steps that we would welcome.”

Human rights activist Masih Alinejad said it this way: “Ali Khamenei the ‘Supreme Leader’ strategically allows reformists to gain power when it serves the regime’s interests.”

Iran’s regime is weakened but remains a dangerous threat. This is not a good time to ease sanctions. A firm hand must be maintained until substantial changes occur within, not just a make up presentation or soft tone.

Iran has extended its influence in Latin America mainly over regimes such as Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia. This kind of operation must be investigated, monitored and sanctioned. So far, countries like Bolivia and Nicaragua have still not received proper sanctions for this.

Iran will need more than a new face to break international isolation. The regime needs to eliminate its nuclear program, reduce repression against women, respect human rights and guarantee freedom of expression. In short, it must give way to democracy and freedom.

Arturo McFields is an exiled journalist, former ambassador to the Organization of American States and a former member of the Norwegian Peace Corps.