Former nuclear negotiator joins Iran’s presidential race
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | April 11, 2013 20:44A former Iranian nuclear negotiator announced on Thursday he would run for president, the most moderate contender so far to bid to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a June election dominated by conservatives.
Rowhani, a Muslim cleric, presided over talks with Britain, France and Germany that saw Iran agree to suspend uranium enrichment-related activities between 2003 and 2005.
He resigned after Ahmadinejad took office in August that year. The nuclear work was resumed and Rowhani was derided for being too accommodating in negotiations.
During Ahmadinejad’s two terms in office, tensions with the West over Iran’s nuclear program have worsened, with the United States and Europe imposing sanctions on its oil and banks over suspicions Tehran is seeking atomic arms, which it denies.
“We need a new management for the country but not based on quarrelling, inconsistency and eroding domestic capacity, but through unity, consensus and attracting honest and efficient people,” Rowhani told a gathering of supporters on Thursday, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported.
The June election is Iran’s first presidential poll since 2009 when mass street protests erupted against Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election.
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