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Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, has signaled a willingness to negotiate with the West. Rouhani, who was inaugurated earlier this week, has a reputation in sharp contrast to his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, and was elected with the strong support of Iran’s reformist movement.

In nominating his cabinet, however, he named no overt reformists, sticking instead to what the regional press are calling well-educated “technocrats.” Rouhani also didn’t pick a single female cabinet member, unlike Ahmedinejad, and nominated for the position of Justice Minister, a man accused of mass summary executions carried out in the 1980s.

Although he has yet to announce a nuclear negotiator, Rouhani has publicly made conciliatory motions toward the US on the thorny issue of nuclear development.

But, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have already made up his mind about the new Iranian president, attributing to him an incorrect inflammatory quote about Israel.

Some analysts fear that Israel continues to greatly sway US nuclear policy on Iran, and that in fact, because “regime change” is ultimately the US’s goal in Iran, no amount of moderation or reconciliation from Iran will resolve the nuclear standoff. “

GUEST: Sasan Fayazmanesh, Professor Emeritus of Economics at California State University, Fresno. He is the author of The United States and Iran: Sanctions, Wars and the Policy of Dual Containment. He just wrote an article on Counterpunch.org called “What Should be Expected from President Rowhani?” and his forthcoming book is called Containing Iran: Obama’s Policy of “Tough Diplomacy”

Click here to read Fayazmanesh’s article about Iran.