If you followed the news over the weekend, you would have come away with the impression that the Islamic Republic of Iran just elected a reform-minded moderate leader as president. “Iran: Moderate candidate wins presidential vote,” read USA Today’s headline. The New York Times reported, “Iran Moderate Wins Presidency by a Large Margin.” A Reuters analysis declared, “Iran moderate’s poll triumph is mandate for change.” And NPR blared that, “Moderate Wins Iran’s Presidency In Rebuke To Hard-Line Clerics.”

It’s striking that news organizations that routinely portray conservatives as extreme or hard-line when reporting on U.S. domestic politics are so eager to slap the “moderate” tag on Hassan Rouhani. It’s also dangerous.