Rouhani Hopeful About Closer Relations With New Parliament

President Hassan Rouhani thanked the outgoing parliament for its close cooperation with his administration and hoped the new legislature would have even closer ties with the government as it would benefit the people. 
“Closer cooperation and good understanding between the Majlis and government will bring more success to the country,” he said at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, President.ir reported. 
The 10th Iranian Parliament officially ended its four-year term on Wednesday and new lawmakers, elected on February, will take their seats in Majlis on May 27. 
The reformist faction took the majority of seats in the former parliament while the new Majlis is overwhelmingly held by principlists. 
Although more closely allied with reformists, Rouhani announced that his administration will work with the new Majlis within the framework of the constitution. 
The president said all officials, both in the government and parliament, are people’s representatives and need to serve them within the constitutional framework. 
“There is no difference between the government and the Majlis in terms of serving the people,” he said.    
Rouhani stressed the need for both branches of power to join hands to facilitate the country’s development and address people’s problems. 
“In this difficult economic conditions resulting from the cruel [US] sanctions and the coronavirus [pandemic], people would like their chosen representatives to make every effort to solve their problems and help the country progress,” he said.   
He was referring to the sweeping sanctions reimposed by the United States on Tehran in 2018 after it abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal unilaterally. 

Support for Iraq, Afghanistan 

Rouhani also welcomed the positive developments in Iraq and Afghanistan, which could lead to better security conditions in the war-torn countries. 
“We are happy to see a government is coming to power in Iraq that is approved by different factions and that the differences in Afghanistan have culminated in good agreements,” he said. 
A new government has come to power in Iraq after months of political dispute over the premiership.  
Former premier, Adel Abdul Mahdi, stepped down in November due to massive public protests. President Barham Salih’s first two nominees withdrew after failing to gain enough support to form a government. The third designated premier, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, managed to gain parliamentary approval for the majority of his proposed Cabinet members last week. 
Afghanistan has been facing a political crisis too since last fall’s disputed presidential election. Both Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the previous incumbent, and his rival Abdullah Abdullah claim to have won the election. They held their own ceremonies and formed parallel governments.
The conflict also delayed the process of US-brokered peace talks between the Taliban insurgents and the Afghan government. 
The two rivals, however, finally signed a power-sharing deal last week to end the months-long political stalemate, which step could smooth efforts to end the country’s long-running war.
“Like before, we stand by the two friendly neighbors, Iraq and Afghanistan, and welcome the establishment of peace, stability and security in our neighboring countries,” Rouhani said.