Baird rejected suggestions, which have recently been aired in some corners of the Western diplomatic and foreign policy community, suggesting that the country should be given a honeymoon period in the aftermath of the election of conservative cleric Hassan Rouhani as president. Baird pointedly noted that, as a former top Iranian nuclear negotiator, Rouhani “doesn’t need to have any time to read up on the files.”
Rouhani’s work as a negotiator on behalf of the Iranian regime became an issue during the recent election. Echoing comments he had explicitly made as far back as 2004, the then-candidate boasted that he had used talks to split Western allies and give the regime time to expand its nuclear program.