i'm taking bets this is bad news for republicans saber wavers.
TEHRAN, IRANJust 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.
can we live with a nuclear Iran not under the influence of Ahmadinejad, guess we will know better after August, we can pray there is no sour grapes in the bunch that want to continue down the same path of defiance.
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."
if he is as good as his word which wouldn't take long to determin by his actions in office. will this affect the dealings with Syria in a positive way and Russia and China how will they see this?
