President Rouhani’s track record shows that he is deeply committed to preserving the regime’s longstanding interests, and frequently at odds with the principles of international law.

Three months on from his June election victory, there is still a knowledge deficit surrounding Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. On the eve of his first major international trip to the UN General Assembly, this gap has led to vastly different perceptions of his intentions on key issues and his overall posture toward the West and its values. This should not be the case, however. During the past decade alone, Rouhani has authored at least ten books and forty academic articles on politically pertinent issues, totaling over 7,000 pages of open-source Farsi-language material. These writings, along with countless speeches and campaign interviews from his three-decade political career, mean that a clear picture of him is well within reach. Beyond the details of today’s speech at the UN, it is crucial that policymakers understand Rouhani’s background and rhetoric and how they align with his perceptions of his role as president.

Read the rest of this article at the Washington Institute.