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Post by dustdevil28 on Jun 15, 2013 13:54:05 GMT -8
Looks like the best of a bad bunch. The crowds in Iran seem to think this is a vote for reform, or at least the BBC is thinking so. Perhaps war can be avoided after all. .......................................... Reformist-backed cleric Hassan Rouhani has won Iran's presidential election, securing just over 50% of the vote and so avoiding the need for a run-off. Crowds gathered in Tehran to hail Mr Rouhani, who said he had achieved a "victory of moderation over extremism". Some 72.2% of the 50 million eligible Iranian voters cast ballots to choose the successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The US said it was "ready to engage directly" with Iran over its disputed nuclear programme. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Mr Rouhani on his victory. www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22916174#TWEET790654 |
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Post by peterd on Jun 15, 2013 15:23:37 GMT -8
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is your key player. President does not have much power.
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Post by peterd on Jun 16, 2013 10:18:27 GMT -8
Profile: Hassan Rouhani Hassan Rouhani, 64, has been elected new president of Iran. 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". www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22886729 |
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Post by peterd on Jun 17, 2013 8:23:35 GMT -8
He’s No ‘Moderate’ It’s not clear why much of the Western media continues to describe Iran’s newly elected president as a “moderate.” After all, Hassan Rouhani is a regime pillar: As an early follower of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Rouhani joined him in exile in Paris, and over the last 34 years, the 64-year-old Qom-educated cleric has held key positions in the regime’s political echelons, and served in top military jobs during Iran’s decade-long war with Iraq. As Iran’s chief interlocutor with the West on the regime’s nuclear portfolio, Rouhani boasted of deceiving his negotiating partners. Domestically, he has threatened to crush protestors “mercilessly and monumentally,” and likely participated in the campaign of assassinations of the regime’s Iranian enemies at home and abroad, especially in Europe. Currently, Rouhani serves as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative on the supreme national security council. www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/he-s-no-moderate_735393.html |
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Post by Sailor on Jun 17, 2013 9:56:11 GMT -8
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is your key player. President does not have much power. Agreed, the President of Iran is a handpuppet for the ruling Ayatollahs. He won't do or say anything that they disagree with, unless he wants to be excommunicated or whatever it is pissed off Mullahs do. Oh, right ... not "excommunicated" - executed by being shortened by a head. |
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