In a cabinet meeting today, a seemingly innocuous statement by President Hassan Rouhani is being interpreted as hinting at a possible postponement of the election. On the issue of nuclear negotiations, Rouhani told the cabinet, “we are not wasting a single second of time, and we will continue even if the elections are held in 2022”. One interpretation is that Rouhani was referring to the limited time left in his presidency, and that he was not going to leave nuclear negotiations to the next administration but would continue his efforts. Others have interpreted his statement in light of unconfirmed rumours that elections could be postponed because of the dire COVID situation in Iran.
