(28 Aug 2018) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani failed to convince parliament on Tuesday that his plans will pull the country out of an economic nosedive worsened by America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal, further isolating his relatively moderate administration amid nationwide anger.
For only the second time in its history, parliament ordered a sitting president to appear before it to answer questions, the last time coming amid widespread discontent in 2011 over Western sanctions in the government of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
While Rouhani warned that "painting a bleak picture of people's lives will lead to further darkness," lawmakers voted four separate times to say they were unconvinced of his answers about Iran's recession, its cratering currency, unemployment and smuggling. Those questions now could go to Iran's judiciary for further review, serving as a warning to the cleric his political stature is slipping.
"Certainly, we made and we have made mistakes," Rouhani acknowledged at one point.
Lawmakers already have fired Rouhani's labor and finance ministers this month amid the economic crisis.
A demonstration last week saw hard-line clerics waving a placard calling the Rouhani's negotiations with the West his "swimming pool." That's a reference to long-swirling rumors surrounding the death of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a political godfather to Rouhani whose body was found in a swimming pool.
"If I am threatened with assassination, I'm OK with it," Rouhani said. "We all know that it is our dream to be killed in the path of God."
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