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TEHRAN, Iran -- Just weeks after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
election victory in 2005, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani
stepped down from the post after quarrelsome meetings with the new
president.
The decision cemented Rowhani's
reputation as a moderate who rejected Ahmadinejad's combative approach
in world affairs in favor of the more nuanced philosophy of
Ahmadinejad's leading political foe, former President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani.
Rafsanjani was rejected by Iran's
election guardians from Friday's presidential ballot. But for many
reformists and liberals in Iran, the 64-year-old Rowhani is somewhat of a
mirror image of the elder Rafsanjani by reflecting his outlook that
Iran can maintain its nuclear program and ease tensions with the West at
the same time.
Rowhani was declared the
president-elect on Saturday after winning 50.7 percent of the more than
36 million votes cast. He takes office in August.
"Rafsanjani
was really the only choice to re-energize reformists," said Rasool
Nafisi, an Iranian affairs analyst at Strayer University in Virginia.
"Rowhani only got their support because he is seen as Rafsanjani's man
and a vote for Rowhani was a vote for Rafsanjani."
This
deep connection between the two men could give Rowhani's presidency a
dual nature: Rowhani as the public face and Rafsanjani behind the scenes
as its powerful godfather and protector.
Although
all key policies such the nuclear program are directed by the ruling
clerics, the alliance with Rafsanjani may give Rowhani more latitude to
put his stamp on Iran's negotiation tactics with world powers after four
rounds of talks since last year have failed to make any significant
headway.
At campaign rallies, Rowhani pledged
to seek "constructive interaction with the world" that includes efforts
to ease Western concerns about Iran's program and lift punishing
international sanctions that have pummeled the economy. The West and its
allies fear Iran could be moving toward development of a nuclear
weapon. Iranian officials, including Rowhani, insist that the country
only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and medical
applications
.
"We
won't let the past eight years be continued," Rowhani told a cheering
crowd last week in a clear reference to Ahmadinejad's back-to-back
terms. "They brought sanctions for the country. Yet, they are proud of
it. I'll pursue a policy of reconciliation and peace. We will also
reconcile with the world."
Rowhani - the only cleric in the six-candidate presidential field - started religious
studies
at a teenager. He soon established himself as an outspoken opponent of
the Western-backed shah, traveling frequently for anti-monarchy speeches
and sermons that caught the attention of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,
the eventual leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Rowhani later graduated from Tehran University with a law
degree
in 1972. He then went abroad to Glasgow Caledonian University for a
master's degree in legal affairs, according to his campaign biography.
While
outside Iran, the stirrings of the Islamic Revolution were growing
stronger. Rowhani returned to Iran and stepped up his denunciations of
the shah, but fled the country to avoid arrest. He then joined up with
Khomeini, who was in self-exile in France, and the rest of his inner
circle, including Rafsanjani.
After the
revolution, Rowhani rose quickly with various roles, including
reorganizing the military, serving in the new parliament and overseeing
the state broadcaster, which became a valued mouthpiece for Khomeini.
He
strengthened his ties to Rafsanjani during the 1980-88 war with Iraq
and, later, as Rafsanjani's top national security adviser during his
1989-97 terms. Rowhani continued the role with reformist President
Mohammad Khatami, who also appointed Rowhani as the country's first
nuclear envoy.
Rowhani took over the nuclear
portfolio in 2003, a year after Iran's 20-year-old nuclear program was
revealed. Iran later temporarily suspended all uranium
enrichment-related activities to avoid possible sanctions from the U.N.
Security Council.
Ahmadinejad strongly opposed
any such concessions and deal-making. He also had carry-over friction
with Rowhani, who backed his mentor Rafsanjani against Ahmadinejad in
the 2005 race.
Rowhani resigned as nuclear
negotiator and head of the Supreme National Security Council after a few
testy postelection meetings with Ahmadinejad.
In
his campaign stops, Rowhani had been careful not to directly confront
authorities over crackdowns since Ahmadinejad's disputed 2009 election.
But Rowhani was seen as clearly siding with Ahmadinejad's reform-minded
opponent four years ago, Green Movement leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who
was placed under house arrest in early 2011 along with fellow opposition
candidate Mahdi Karroubi.
Taking a page from
Mousavi's color-branded campaign, Rowhani adopted purple for his run for
the presidency. It also brought some backlash, including several
supporters arrested at a rally that brought cries from the crowd for the
release of Mousavi and Karroubi.
At Rowhani's final campaign event earlier this week, chants rang out: "Love live reforms."
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