Former Chief Nuclear Negotiator
Emphasizes Economy, Reviving Relations with the World
Hassan Rouhani, 64, former director of Iran's Supreme
National Security Council and chief nuclear negotiator under presidents
Rafsanjani and Khatami, today announced his candidacy for president. Rouhani told his supporters in Tehran that his administration will normalize the
country’s relations and end “quarrelling.”
“We need a new management for the country but not based
on quarrelling, inconsistency and eroding domestic capacity, but through unity,
consensus and attracting honest and efficient people,” Rowhani told said.
“My government will be one of prudence and hope and my
message is about saving the economy, reviving ethics and interaction with the
world,” Rouhani added. “Inflation is above 30 percent, the reduction in the
value of the national currency, unemployment and zero economic growth are among
the country's problems.” [Mehr News Agency, 11 April]
By emphasizing that his administration would reduce
tensions and normalize interaction with outside world, Rouhani differentiated
himself from other declared candidates on topics that are closely linked to the
economic challenges facing Iran due to sanctions.
Rouhani, a Shia cleric, presided over negotiations with
Britain, France and Germany that saw Iran agree to suspend uranium enrichment
between 2003 and 2005. President Ahmadinejad reversed the course and restarted
the enrichment activities after his election in 2005 that led to rounds of
sanctions imposed against Iran by the U.N. and the West, including the more
recent Western sanctions on oil and access to global banking.
Notable among Roohani’s supporters in today’s rally were
Yasser and Fatemeh Hashemi, son and daughter of former president Hashemi
Rafsanjani, indicating that the potential kingmaker in the upcoming election
could be contemplating to support Rouhani’s candidacy, if he decides not to run
himself. But it’s too early to draw definite conclusions based on Yasser and
Fatemeh’s presence in today’s event.
File photo:
Hassan Rouhani (L), then head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and
chief nuclear negotiator, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow,
November 2003. (Mikhail Metzel/Pool/Reuters)
7 comments:
Hasn't Mottaki also previously emphasized an intention to direct his energies towards international relations?
Personally, I think Rasfanjani is a has-been. I don't see him as a "king maker" in the 2013 election.
Khamenei has already chosen for this man to "win".
If what you are saying is true, it would be a major shift of policy and major defeat for conservative factions who populate the Leadership House ('Beit Rahbari').
He wishes he was that way, Inside Iran groups and politics there are still many centers of power, That is why you see so much conflict...
There many conflicts inside the regime but they are all part of the same crew.
The United States of America has become a byword for war. No other nation state has started as many wars or conflicts in modern times than the USA - the United States of Armageddon.
SEE MORE ON: Iran represents a deathblow to US global hegemony
By: Finian Cunningham, originally from Belfast, Ireland, was born in 1963. He is a prominent expert in international affairs.
*Sorry for off-topic for one more time!
Please stop posting off-topic articles. You can instead email them to us as your suggestions for important stories, like a number of other readers do. We will post them if they are within the scope of this blog. Thanks, as always.
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