Posted on 06/15/2013 11:19:16 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Moderate Candidate Wins Iran's Presidential Vote By FARNAZ FASSIHI
BEIRUTHassan Rohani, the candidate backed by the opposition and reformist political factions, was declared the winner in Iran's presidential vote, giving a decisive victory to Iranians calling for change.
Iran's interior minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, said at a press conference Saturday in Tehran that Mr. Rohani had obtained more than 50% of more than 36 million votes cast in Friday's election.
Supporters of moderate candidate Hassan Rohani took to the streets to celebrate after he was declared winner of Iran's presidential election. Photo: Associated Press.
Conservative candidates did poorly in vote counts so far, especially the candidates perceived to be the closest to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The current nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, ranked fourth and Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister, was fifth. Mohsen Rezaei, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, who made the economy his top campaign issue, ranked third. The votes for all three men are below 13% so far.
Iran analysts and media pundits had said that if Mr. Rohani wins with a large margin, it should serve as wake-up call for Mr. Khamenei and his circle of conservative advisers that their hard-line policies ranging from the standoff over the nuclear issue to the dire state of the economy have been rejected by the majority of the population.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
“Meet the new boss....same as the old boss”
WTF is a moderate islamist? One who shakes your hand while he stabs you in the back?
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