Hassan Rouhani
Hassan RouhaniReuters

The former head of the Mossad outlet in Iran, Eliezer Tzafrir (“Geizi”), says Iran's new president is more dangerous to Israel than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, precisely because of his supposedly moderate politics.

Tzafrir, who also served as the prime minister's Adviser on Arab Affairs, told Arutz Sheva that the election of Hassan Rouhani is no more than an Iranian act of deception vis-a-vis the West. “They are taking us for a ride, as part of the Iranian deception of the entire world,” he said. “That way, they can buy more time and carry on with their nuclear project.”

Tzafrir explained that the election of the new president is already having the desired effect of causing the “enlightened"world to discuss the need of engaging him in dialogue, listening to his positions and viewing him as a democratically elected man, but Iran will simply use the time that passes to advance its plans.

Iran's democracy is one in which the voters choose between candidates selected “by the Creator, as they see things” – that is, by Ayatollah Khamenei – and candidates not approved by him may not contend.

This is “a poor man's democracy,” he said, because “the vote can express Iranian's protest against the previous regime, but it cannot reflect the true will of the Iranian nation.”

Rouhani's supposed moderation is on matters like women's status, he said, but he is absolutely not a moderate on matters of foreign policy and security.

"We will miss the Ahmadinejad era,” the Mossad veteran said, because Ahmadinejad made it easy to understand who the enemy is. “He spoke like Hitler and the world knew him.”