Trita Parsi, founder of the National Iranian American Council, said a U.S. strategy of trying to undermine Iran’s government would undo progress Obama had made. “If you put regime change back on the table, it is a complete reversal of what has been achieved thus far. Through the nuclear deal, there were channels of communication and even cooperation,” Parsi said. Parsi argued that Rouhani’s reelection was a victory for reformers who have placed their hopes for changing Iran on gradual political reform, not mass street protests. “The people have essentially chosen that they want to reform the system from within,” he said. “The hard-liners could hardly hide their pleasure in seeing the U.S. take on that position.”
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