Reformer Wins Surprise Victory in Iranian Presidential Election
June 22, 2013
Iran's former nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rohani, has been elected as the new president of Iran.
From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.
Last week, voters in Iran elected 64-year-old Shi’ite clergyman Hassan Rowhani president. The reform candidate had criticized Iran’s current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and repression of civil society. Days before the vote, Mr. Rowhani promised Iranians he would bring major changes.
President-elect Hassan Rowhani had not been considered likely to win. But, Iranians gave him more than 51 percent of the vote. He described the election as a “victory of moderation over extremism.”
He promised to undo all of the locks that he said had been placed on the Iranian people in the past eight years.
Western diplomats have praised the new president for his diplomatic skills when he served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator. Mr. Rowhani resigned that position after the election of President Ahmadinejad. Negotiations over the country’s disputed nuclear program did not progress during Mr. Ahmadinejad’s presidency.
Iran says it has an undisputed right to nuclear development. It says its nuclear enrichment activities are for its own medical and energy uses. Israel, the United States and some other western nations suspect that Iran is attempting to build nuclear weapons.
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