- Title: Profile of outgoing Iranian president Hassan Rouhani
- Date: 2nd August 2021
- Summary: SOLDIERS STANDING
- Embargoed: 16th August 2021 09:29
- Keywords: Hassan Rouhani Iran president Iranian nuclear deal US sanctions
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Iran
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Middle East,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00XEOLT3K7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
Iran's outgoing pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani will hand over the presidency to hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday (August 5).
Born into a religious family in 1948, the mid-ranking Shi’ite cleric played an active role in the opposition that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah in 1979. He has held several sensitive jobs in the Islamic Republic, including representing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for 25 years at the Supreme National Security Council.
In 2013, Rouhani won a landslide election victory promising a policy of engagement with the West. He easily secured reelection for a second term in 2017, winning more than 57 percent of the vote. Rouhani was barred by the constitution from seeking a third term.
Tensions have grown between Tehran and Washington since 2018 when then-President Donald Trump quit the deal between Iran and six world powers that sought to limit Tehran’s nuclear programme and to prevent it from developing atomic weapons. Washington reimposed sanctions that have badly hit Iran’s economy.
Iran, which denies ever seeking nuclear arms, retaliated to Trump’s “maximum pressure†policy by gradually breaching the accord. Tehran has repeatedly said it can quickly reverse those violations if U.S. sanctions are removed.
In January, Rouhani urged the incoming U.S. administration under President Joe Biden to return to a 2015 nuclear agreement and lift sanctions on Tehran, while welcoming the end of “tyrant†President Donald Trump’s era. But as his term nears its end, Rouhani implicitly criticized Iran's top decision-makers for "not allowing" his government to reinstate the nuclear deal during its term in office.
Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters that president-elect Raisi planned to adopt "a harder line" in the talks after taking office, adding that the next round might resume in late September or early October. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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