A few minutes after the arrival of Nowruz on March 20, President Hassan Rouhani released a video message congratulating Iranians on the Persian New Year, providing a general account of the country�s performance on domestic and foreign issues. These statements are typically vague,�but Rouhani called the coming year �the�year of elections.�

�Let�s join hands to elect a parliament that�deserves the Iranian nation and also vote for an Assembly of Experts that�could bring more stability to the country and further peace to public opinion,� he said.

Having been frustrated with the conservative-dominated parliament over cultural policies, Rouhani, whose popularity is on the rise now over the�Lausanne nuclear framework announcement, will attempt to seize the moment by riding this popularity through to the February 2016 parliamentary elections.

Dariush Ghanbari, a former Reformist MP, told Al-Monitor:��Many of President Rouhani�s promises haven�t been fulfilled owing to hard-line�MPs sabotaging his plans.� Ghanbari�said that Rouhani needs a parliament in line with his policies to follow his strategies.

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This article was written by�Rohollah Faghihi� for Al-Monitor on April 11, 2015. Rohollah Faghihi is a journalist who has worked for various Iranian media organizations including the Entekhab news site. On Twitter:�@FaghihiRohollah