
Of the six candidates who ran in Iran's presidential election, the most
moderate and the only cleric —
Hassan Rouhani
— has been declared the
winner by Iranian state television. His victory was a startling triumph.
He won more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round and avoided a
runoff.
Rouhani has been a pillar of the Islamic Republic with a long track
record of having held very senior positions. He has been deputy speaker
of the parliament, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's
representative to the National Security Council and chief nuclear
negotiator for former President Mohammad Khatami. (It was during that
period that Iran accepted a moratorium on nuclear enrichment.) Most
recently he has been the head of a key advisory group for Khamenei.
