The Iranian interior ministry announced on Saturday that moderate cleric Hasan Rowhani has won the country’s presidential election.
Rowhani won with a fraction over the 50 percent of the vote needed to win outright on the first poll. Voter turnout was recorded at 72.7 percent.
Press TV, an Iranian state media outlet, reported that Rowhani was born in the city of Sorkheh and earned his masters and doctorate degrees at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Rowhani was the closest thing to a reform candidate in the election to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after Mohammad Reza Aref dropped out of the race on Tuesday. Some Iranians showed their support for Rowhani on the streets by wearing purple bracelets.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/15/18975637-moderate-cleric-hasan-rowhani-elected-president-of-iran-interior-ministry-says?lite
Profile: Hassan Rouhani
He was the only cleric contesting the Iranian presidential election.
He says he wants to steer the country towards moderation and has the backing of the reformists led by former President Mohammad Khatami.
He had the endorsement of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who represents other moderate Islamists and is barred from running for office.
He pulled large crowds wherever he was on the campaign trail - speaking of reform, promising to free political prisoners, to guarantee civil rights and promising to return "dignity to the nation".
In televised debates, he raised taboo subjects, such as the nuclear stand-off with world powers, damaging international sanctions, the dire state of the economy and Iran's extreme isolation in the international community.
He has also vowed to restore diplomatic ties with Iran's old enemy, the United States, which cut relations with Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by Islamist students.
Mr Rouhani urged Iranians to vote, saying that the hardliners "don't want you to vote, they want to win the ballot unchallenged".
Mr Rouhani is said to be fluent in English, German, French, Russian and Arabic, and has a law doctorate from Glasgow Caledonian University.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22886729
Rowhani won with a fraction over the 50 percent of the vote needed to win outright on the first poll. Voter turnout was recorded at 72.7 percent.
Press TV, an Iranian state media outlet, reported that Rowhani was born in the city of Sorkheh and earned his masters and doctorate degrees at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Rowhani was the closest thing to a reform candidate in the election to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after Mohammad Reza Aref dropped out of the race on Tuesday. Some Iranians showed their support for Rowhani on the streets by wearing purple bracelets.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/15/18975637-moderate-cleric-hasan-rowhani-elected-president-of-iran-interior-ministry-says?lite
Profile: Hassan Rouhani
He was the only cleric contesting the Iranian presidential election.
He says he wants to steer the country towards moderation and has the backing of the reformists led by former President Mohammad Khatami.
He had the endorsement of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who represents other moderate Islamists and is barred from running for office.
He pulled large crowds wherever he was on the campaign trail - speaking of reform, promising to free political prisoners, to guarantee civil rights and promising to return "dignity to the nation".
In televised debates, he raised taboo subjects, such as the nuclear stand-off with world powers, damaging international sanctions, the dire state of the economy and Iran's extreme isolation in the international community.
He has also vowed to restore diplomatic ties with Iran's old enemy, the United States, which cut relations with Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by Islamist students.
Mr Rouhani urged Iranians to vote, saying that the hardliners "don't want you to vote, they want to win the ballot unchallenged".
Mr Rouhani is said to be fluent in English, German, French, Russian and Arabic, and has a law doctorate from Glasgow Caledonian University.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22886729
