When Push Came to Shove, The Old Gaurd Threw In The Towel

After 16 days of silence, Rafsanjani finally came out from behind the complex curtains of Iranian politics and rather than upholding his usual confident statesmanlike posture the world saw a more subdued image of a defeated veteran politician whose glory days were seemingly over.

This moment in history certainly looked to be the coming of an end for the old guard that some 30 years ago stormed the stage of Iranian politic-real with great vigor and dynamism. However today, what we are witnessing and what should be significant to us is not so much the ending of this era, but rather, the beginning of a new raison d’être in an Islamic Iran. Now the real cliffhanger at least for me is, a) what is the second act going to look like, and b) Who is going to play the lead role if it is not going to be the clerics anymore?

Well, what I do know from having monitored the Iranian elections is that however the new leadership takes shape one thing is certain, it will be one that is more nationalistic, ideological and vigilant in defending its interests both internally and internationally.

Now I’m not a betting man, but if I was, I would put my money on the following predictions in how the new political elite would govern Iran over the coming months:

a) They will create a single party political system solely to act as a rubber stamp for their macro policies and national agenda.

b) They will invest heavily in building up a strong military apparatus to show the neighborhood that Iran is "the" regional super power and that it cannot be ignored in regional political discussions.

c) They will proceed to invest in infrastructure projects to ease the economic conditions of the country but this investment will be done solely through a centralized economic model. Privatization is not an option. And

d) They will build strategic alliances with countries that share Iran’s new ideological thinking.

There is certainly a new sheriff in town and the world needs to learn how to deal with it.