Free Republic

Moderate Candidate Wins Iran's Presidential Vote By FARNAZ FASSIHI BEIRUT—Hassan 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...

IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have shot himself in the foot. Ahmadinejad gave a vitriolic anti-American and anti-Israeli speech at the "Durban II" anti-racism conference in Geneva April 20 as part of an effort to launch his re-election campaign with a big bang and to bolster the claim that he is the global standard-bearer of anti-Western movements. The speech was designed to shock and provoke, and it did that -- but it also highlighted the Islamic Republic's increasing diplomatic isolation. Ban Ki Moon, who briefly pulled off his earpiece so as not to hear the translation of Ahmadinejad's incendiary claims,...