break out Iran's diplomatic isolation and improve its economy through increased oil revenues and investments. Rouhani's resounding victory in the last presidential election echoed loud and clear in the supreme leader's chambers.

Khamenei was well aware of those challenges, as well as the opportunities that lied ahead and decided, after a direct appeal by the US president, to grant Rouhani's government the latitude necessary to reach a deal with the US and improve economic relations with the West.

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Khamenei himself has approved the deal - even if it arguably violated some of his red lines. And although he remained a vocal critic of the West, Khamenei later asked its critics to seize their attacks on the nuclear deal.

It was clear during thefinal presidential debate last week how the two leading opposition candidates - Raisi and Mohammad Ghalibaf, who recently dropped out of the race - were more eager to criticise Rouhani for the lack of economic dividends from the nuclear deal, than for its signing.

Iran is likely to continue with its pragmatic policy towards the US and the West in general.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Tehran has been quite practical in its dealings with the US since the Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani presidency of the 1990s (following the first US Gulf War), through Mohammad Khatami's, (following the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Afghanistan), and even during the Ahmadinejad presidency (following the US/Iranian backing of the sectarian Nouri al-Maliki government in Iraq).

Iran has benefitted greatly from Obama's decision to change the