WITH THE surprise election of Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's new president, hard-liners tightened their hold on the Islamic republic. And secure in their rule, they have no interest in tamping down their nuclear ambitions or seeking rapprochement with the United States. President-elect Ahmadinejad, who defeated a former president and political pragmatist, made that emphatically clear this week in his first public remarks after the election.
His candor should make it easier for the Bush administration to rail against the Iranian regime, a sponsor of terrorism, and perhaps rally support for sanctions against it. But Mr. Ahmadinejad's election complicates the White House's desire for a democratic Middle East and challenges the administration to determine how to support Iranian reformers.
In a presidential runoff, Mr. Ahmadinejad trounced the perceived favorite, Hashemi Rafsanjani, an Islamic cleric who was not opposed to reopening dialogue with the United States. The son of a blacksmith and an engineer by training, Mr. Ahmadinejad won with the support of Iran's rural and poor communities and on his pledge to redistribute Iran's oil wealth. The economy and unemployment were the issues, obviously not rapprochement with the West.