Iran Elects Moderate(ish) President. Will it change anything?

One of Mr Rouhani's main election pledges was to try to ease international sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme, and he has also promised greater engagement with Western powers.

But Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday: "The international community should not fall into wishful thinking and be tempted to ease pressure on Iran to stop its nuclear programme."

The US has eased sanctions on exports of medical equipment to Iran, the treasury department has said.

Electrocardiography and dialysis machines are among the items that can now be exported without prior approval.

The department said the expansion of allowed exports was intended to enable "legitimate humanitarian trade".

Iranians have suffered chronic medicine shortages amid Western sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran to abandon its nuclear programme.

Israel and some Western powers suspect Iran's nuclear programme may be a front for making weapons, but Tehran insists it is purely peaceful.

David Cohen, the US treasury department's under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said on Thursday the policy shift "reflects an important element of our sanctions policy".

"Even as we continue to implement and enforce our rigorous sanctions regime against Iran, we are committed to safeguarding legitimate humanitarian trade," he said.

The US has imposed as many as nine sets of sanctions aimed at isolating the Iranian oil and gas, financial and automotive industries from international money and markets.

The international sanctions have contributed to economic hardship in Iran, which is suffering from rising unemployment, a devalued currency and soaring inflation. Analysts say exceptions for food, agricultural commodities, medicine and medical equipment in the sanctions programmes have not been effective, with many banks still worried they could be penalised for processing such export transactions.

The US has said that even as it imposes sanctions, it remains open to a diplomatic solution with Iran.

Last month, US President Barack Obama said the US had "cautious optimism" it would be able to work with newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

"We may be able to move forward on a dialogue that allows us to resolve the problems with Iran's nuclear programme," Mr Obama said.

David Cohen, the US treasury department's under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said on Thursday the policy shift "reflects an important element of our sanctions policy".

"Even as we continue to implement and enforce our rigorous sanctions regime against Iran, we are committed to safeguarding legitimate humanitarian trade," he said.

Clearly something had to be done because the sanctions were beginning to bite, at least among everyday people and if kept in place long enough even the rich would begin to feel it.

Don't tell me what to do. I don't dance to your tune.

I never told you what to do I pointed out what you're doing.

I think a war with Iran would be a disaster, that posting this thread may help persuade some American that Iran isn't the great big bogie man they think it is.

On this you and I differ. I think you'd relish a confrontation between Iran and America just so you could wag your finger a bit more.

That's why you're doing your utmost to show that only vitriolic anti-Americans would oppose a strike against Iran.

I'm an internationalist, and a socialist. I don't think you are, I think your motives are less than pure.

That's a very American response to socialism JTT. No other country produces people with such a Pavlovian reflex. I guess old habits die hard.

Do you speak so passionately about American war crimes because you participated in them? No amount of scolding other people will wash away your guilt.

You need to take responsibility, like Oliver Stone did, educate, speak with a quiet voice, don't scold or proselytise. That way people might stop putting you on ignore.

Attending an annual pro-Palestinian holiday in Iran known as Al Quds Day, a reference to the Arabic name for Jerusalem and an occasion in which Iranians march and shout “Death to Israel,” Mr. Rouhani told state television that “a sore has been sitting on the body of the Islamic world for many years,” a reference to Israel.

At least three Iranian news agencies appeared to misquote him as saying: the “Zionist regime is a sore which must be removed.” Later in the day they posted corrections.

Mr. Rouhani, who has sought to portray himself as a moderate, did not use the most inflammatory anti-Israeli invective sometimes heard from other Iranian leaders, most notably Mr. Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called Israel a cancerous tumor, a virus and an aberration that should be expunged from history.

Nevertheless, the initial news agency translation of Mr. Rouhani’s comments from the state television videotape infuriated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. He has previously described Mr. Rouhani as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” whose surprising June 14 election victory was unlikely to change Iran’s policies, particularly regarding what Israel views as an Iranian determination to become a nuclear weapons power.

“Rouhani’s true face has been revealed earlier than expected,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement. “Even if they will now rush to deny his remarks, this is what the man thinks and this is the plan of the Iranian regime. These remarks by President Rouhani must rouse the world from the illusion that part of it has been caught up in since the Iranian elections.

“The president there has changed, but the goal of the regime has not: to achieve nuclear weapons in order to threaten Israel, the Middle East and the peace and security of the entire world. A country that threatens the destruction of the state of Israel must not be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction.”

When told later that the original translation had been wrong, and that the videotape showed Mr. Rouhani had in fact not referred directly to Israel or said anything about removing the “sore,” Mr. Netanyahu’s office was unmoved and seemingly uninterested in nuance. “We stand by what we say,” said his spokesman, Mark Regev. “The remarks attributed to him we think, we are sure, that represents his true outlook.”

He has previously described Mr. Rouhani as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” whose surprising June 14 election victory was unlikely to change Iran’s policies, particularly regarding what Israel views as an Iranian determination to become a nuclear weapons power.