Elation over Rowhani victory eludes Arabs

The victory of relative moderate Hasan Rowhani in Iran’s presidential elections leads the Arab media on Sunday, followed closely by Egypt’s decision to sever diplomatic ties with Syria.

“Rowhani snatches Iran’s presidency from the fundamentalists,” reads the headline of the London-based daily Al-Hayat, which features a photo of a victorious Rowhani smiling and making the victory sign amid a crowd of supporters on Saturday.

“Rowhani’s election may mark the return of reformists to the political arena, although he is not exactly considered one,” the article equivocates, highlighting the backing he received from former Iranian presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami.

In rather laconic style, the Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reports on “the victory of the reformist candidate Rowhani,” emphasizing the high voter turnout, which reached 72%.

Meanwhile, Saudi news website Elaph dubs Rowhani a “moderate conservative” and “a diplomatic cleric,” elaborating on his long political career and historic opposition to the regime of the shah.

The Qatari news channel Al-Jazeera focuses on the day after, reporting on the mostly positive reactions to Rowhani’s victory from the US, UN, Europe and Israel.

While Al-Hayat considers Rowhani’s victory a resounding defeat for Iran’s conservative candidates, A-Sharq Al-Awsat columnist Tareq Homayed says his election is nothing to write home about, since far from being a democracy, Iran has become “a military state wearing a cleric’s turban,” where the prerogatives of the president are extremely limited.

“Annoyingly, the phrase ‘the moderate Iranian candidate’ is being repeated, implying that the region is going to become worryingly slack on Iran. As we have warned here before following the candidacy of Hashemi Rafsanjani… caution is very warranted today too, following Rowhani’s victory over Ahmadinejad.”

Morsi cuts Egypt’s ties with Syria

A dramatic Egyptian decision on Saturday to sever diplomatic ties with Syria is making headlines in Arab media as well.

Al-Jazeera interviews the head of the Syrian National Coalition George Sabra, who says that the Syrians rebels have regained sorely needed support thanks to the Egyptian decision, through which Egypt regained “its lost role.”

According to the station, in a public speech in Cairo Saturday, Morsi called on Hezbollah to leave Syria and claimed that Syrian refugees are treated just as well in Egypt as Egyptian citizens.

Egyptian establishment daily Al-Ahram leads off its coverage of Morsi’s speech with his attack on the domestic opposition, which is preparing for a mass anti-government demonstration on June 30.

Before discussing Syria, Morsi dubbed his detractors remnants of the previous regime, accusing them of wishing to bring the country back to a spiral of blood and anarchy. In Al-Ahram, the Syrian matter is relegated to the bottom of the article.

Independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reports dispassionately on Morsi’s speech, mostly quoting from it verbatim.

The daily reports on a statement by the spokesman of the Free Syrian Army, Fahed Al-Masry, praising the “historic unity of the great Egyptian and Syrian nations.”

“This speech alleviated much of our pain, suffering and wounds,” continued the statement, wishing that the Egyptian army would follow suit with material support for its Syrian brothers in arms.

Daily reports largest defection in Syrian army

A-Sharq Al-Awsat dedicates a front page article to what it dubs “the largest defection in the Syrian army” over the past 36 hours, encompassing 70 officers including seven generals and 22 colonels, who have all fled to neighboring Turkey.

A source in the Free Syrian Army tells the Saudi daily that the first installment of weapons will soon reach FSA fighters with the Americans’ blessing, including Soviet Osa anti-aircraft missiles sent from Eastern European countries which used to belong to the Warsaw Pact.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon confirmed on Saturday that it would be leaving Patriot missile batteries and F-16 fighter jets in Jordan.