NEW YORK — When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani came to New York last year for his debut at the UN General Assembly, there was optimism that a fundamental shift between the United States and Iran was at hand.
Rouhani seemed the ideal interlocutor for the administration of President Barack Obama because of his stature as a pragmatic pillar of the Iranian regime, strong showing in presidential elections and record of diplomatic achievement when he was a top nuclear negotiator a decade ago.