Election:What Rouhani Victory Means for Iran

by Shaul Bakhash

            Hassan Rouhani’s surprising first round victory in the presidential elections represents a significant shift in the Iranian political landscape. In a field of candidates dominated by conservatives, Rouhani ran as a moderate. He questioned the necessity of the expanding security state and the constant oversight of student and civil society associations by the security agencies. He spoke of the need for greater freedom of press and speech. He devoted attention to women’s rights issues and promised to establish a ministry for women’s affairs.

      On the economy, while all the candidates promised to address problems of inflation and unemployment, Rouhani also focused on the institutions that make rational economic policy possible. He said one of his first acts would be to revive what were once key institutions such as the Plan Organization and the Supreme Economic Council, which outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did away with.

      On foreign policy, during the election campaign the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, continued to stress the need for resistance and steadfastness in the face of the ‘hegemonic’ West, warned against those who naively believe compromise with the West will gain Iran positive results, and ridiculed the idea that Iran was internationally isolated. But Rouhani, while appearing as steadfast as the other candidates on Iran’s nuclear rights, stressed the need to find a way out of the impasse with the West on the nuclear issue and to end Iran’s diplomatic isolation. He did not shy away, but rather defended, the softer line on the nuclear issue adopted by the government of President Mohammad Khatami, when Rouhani served as head of the National Security Council and as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator.

Wer ist dieser Ḥasan Rūḥānī? – Hintergrund

Ḥasan Rūḥānī, auch als Hassan Rohani oder Hassan Rouhani transliteriert, persisch ‏حسن روحانی‎, ‎(* 13. November 1948 in Sorkheh, Provinz Semnan)^[1] ist ein iranischer Politiker und ein schiitischer Mudjtahid mit dem religiösen Titel Hodschatoleslam.

1960 begann er seine Ausbildung in der traditionellen islamischen Schule in Ghom (Hawza); 1969 wurde in der Teheraner Universität aufgenommen und schloss 1972 sein Studium der Rechtswissenschaften ab. Er folgte seinem Interesse für moderne Wissenschaften, setzte sein Studium im Westen fort und schloss sein Masterstudium, gefolgt vom Doktorats-Studium (PhD), in Rechtswissenschaft auf der Glasgow Caledonian University ab.

Politischer Weg

Von 1989 bis 2005 war Rūḥānī Mitglied des Nationalen Sicherheitsrats. Seit 1991 ist er Mitglied des Schlichtungsrats und seit 1992 Leiter des Zentrums für strategische Forschungen. 1998 wurde er in den Expertenrat gewählt, ebenso bei der Wahl 2006 bei der er im Bezirk Teheran den 7. Platz erreichte. Rūḥānī war stellvertretender Parlamentspräsident in der 4. und 5. Legislaturperiode des iranischen Parlaments (Majlis). 2003 wurde Rūḥānī unter Präsident Chatami zum Chefunterhändler der Gespräche zwischen der EU-3(Großbritannien, Frankreich, Deutschland) und dem Iran bezüglich dessen Atomprogramm ernannt. Unter seiner Verhandlungsleitung konnte ein Stopp der Urananreicherung erzielt werden. Am 18. August 2005 wurde er seines Postens enthoben und vom neuen Präsidenten Mahmud Ahmadinedschad durch Ali Laridschani ersetzt. Politisch gilt er Rafsandschānī nahestehend.

Präsidentschaftswahlen 2013

Am 11. April 2013 hat Ḥasan Rūḥānī seine Kandidatur für die Präsidentschaftswahlen in Juni 2013 bekannt gegeben. Er betonte, er wolle eine Bürgerrechts-Charta einführen, die Wirtschaft wiederaufbauen und die Zusammenarbeit mit der Weltgemeinschaft verbessern. Rūḥānī werden wegen seinen gemäßigten Ansichten und seinen engen Verbindungen zu Irans führenden Geistlichen, gute Chancen bei den Präsidentschaftswahlen in Juni 2013 angerechnet. Im Sinne einer konstruktiven Interaktion mit der Weltgemeinschaft, bevorzuge er Verhandlungen als den besten Ausweg bei dem Streit um das iranische Atomprogramm. „Besonnenheit und Hoffnung“ sei das Motto der Regierung, die er bilden wolle.

 

Rūḥānī, Ḥasan: Khāṭirāt-i Ḥujjat al-Islām va al-Muslimīn Duktur Ḥasan Rūḥānī: Inqilāb-i Islāmī (1341-1357), Tihrān: Markaz-i Asnād-i Inqilāb-i Islāmī, 2009, ISBN 978-964-419-036-0

Links

• Hassan Rouhani’s Résumé der CSR
• Profil der Rouhani.ir
• Profil von Ḥasan Rūḥānī der BBC
• Hintergrundbericht der AFP

1. ↑ Press TV Hassan Rohani (abgerufen am 14. Juni 2013)

Quelle: AFP /BBC/ DPA/ AP

 

Spiegel| Irans Exilanten: Das neue Leben der Grünen Bewegung

Von Raniah Salloum

SPIEGEL ONLINE

Iraner im Exil: Maryam Mirza und Kaveh Kermanshahi leben in Berlin

Es waren Hunderttausende, die 2009 in Iran aus Protest gegen Wahlfälschungen auf die Straße gingen. Von dieser „Grünen Bewegung“ ist wenig geblieben. Viele engagierte Iraner wurden verhaftet, manche hingerichtet, Hunderte flüchteten ins Ausland. Besuch bei zwei Exilanten in Berlin.

Berlin – Wenn an diesem Freitag in Iran gewählt wird, sind Maryam Mirza und Kaveh Kermanshahi nicht dabei. Es werden für beide die ersten Präsidentschaftswahlen im Exil. Die 32-jährige Journalistin und der 28-jährige Menschenrechtler können nicht mehr zurück in ihre Heimat, seit sich dort im Zuge der umstrittenen Wahlen 2009 die Repressionen verschärft haben.

Beide sind keine Staatsfeinde oder Verschwörer, wie Teheran gesellschaftlich engagierte Iraner gern bezeichnet. Mirza und Kermanshahi haben bescheidene Hoffnungen. Sie setzen darauf, dass sich die Islamische Republik langsam von innen heraus zum Besseren wandelt. Bei den letzten Wahlen stimmten sie für den Reformer Mir Hossein Mussawi. „Wir waren viele, die für Mussawi gestimmt haben“, sagt Maryam Mirza. „Jetzt sind wir viele, die im Exil leben.“

Vollständiger Artikel

 

Iran Takes To The Polls To Elect New President

People have six candidates to choose from but women or anyone with a reformist agenda were banned from standing.Voting has begun in Iran to elect a new president as Mahmoud Ahmadinajad is replaced after serving his maximum eight years in charge.There are six candidates but Iran’s Guardian Council has restricted those who can stand, banning women or other candidates with an agenda considered to be reformist or liberal.
There are no political parties in the conventional sense – just a contest between candidates who profess absolute loyalty to the Supreme Leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and others who are considered slighting more reformist but by no means moderate.On the campaign trail, Iran’s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili is seen as one of the front-runners.He has positioned himself as the most hardline of the candidates but there is speculation he may be viewed by Iran’s Supreme Leader as too much of a wild card because of his implacable attitude to the west.

His election would signal a no-change president in Iran’s posture to the outside world. Another favourite is Mohammad Ghalibaf, the current mayor of the capital Tehran, who is a conservative with strong ties to the security forces.If there is such a thing as a moderate voice amongst the conservative candidates it is Hassan Rouhani, a British-educated cleric.On the streets of Tehran, people who might count themselves amongst the opposition have been gathering to support him, because in the absence of a more reformist figure he may get their vote.

But whoever wins will have a limited mandate on nuclear policy and relations with the West.In Iran it is the hard-line supreme leader who has the say, not the president.The supreme leader spectacularly fell out with Mr Ahmadinajad in spite of backing him in 2009 during elections which critics said were rigged and led to wide-spread protests.

Sky News spoke to a participant in the demonstrations dubbed the Green Revolution.

He did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals but told us he he was held for six months and tortured.He said: „I was like an empty person, an animal. I was like a piece of meat.“If there are demonstrations during this election – and I hope there will be – and people take to the streets in Tehran they must stay out day and night.And if people get killed, injured, arrested and tortured they must persist and stay out on the streets for the government to fall. They cannot go back to the roof tops and just shout slogans.“One of the biggest issues domestically is the economy, which is in its worst state for decades with high inflation, soaring unemployment and negative growth.The value of Iran’s currency, the rial, has more than halved in a year, after a collapse blamed on government mismanagement and sanctions against Iran’s energy and banking sectors imposed by the US and EU.
The fall of the rial has led to sharp cuts in imports and raised Iran’s inflation to its highest level in 18 years.

(Sky News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lisa Holland was refused a visa to travel to Iran to cover the election. She compiled this report in London.)

Translate from: English
إيران يخرج إلى صناديق الاقتراع لانتخاب رئيس جديد
ایران را به پای صندوقهای رای برای انتخاب رئیس جمهور جدید
Irán lleva a las urnas para elegir nuevo presidente
Irã leva às urnas para eleger novo presidente
Iran porta alle urne per eleggere il nuovo presidente
Ιράν λαμβάνει στις κάλπες για να εκλέξει νέο πρόεδρο

 

‚Iran’s disinherited may clash with bourgeoisie‘

Said Kamali, euronews: „On the eve of the presidential election in Iran, with municipal polls…

Said Kamali, euronews: „On the eve of the presidential election in Iran, with municipal polls planned at the same time, on 14 June, we’re speaking with Bernard Hourcade. We will talk about the aftermath of the highly controversial elections in 2009, which saw clashes in the streets between protesters and government forces… as well as today’s tough questions surrounding Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, and unprecedented international economic sanctions against Iran.

„You’re the head of France’s National Centre for Scientific Research, specialising in Iran, and you’re also a professor of Geography at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations, in Paris. What does a presidential election in Iran mean for you?“

Bernard Hourcade: „It’s often said that elections serve no useful purpose, and that they’re rigged, and it’s often true. But something special about Iran is that we never know the result they’ll bring – even though the institutional framework is fairly restricted. The political stakes and debate are important, and I think it’s an important event for the future of the country, though it’s not exactly comparable to elections in France, Belgium or Spain.“

euronews: „As you’re aware, 686 people of all sorts registered to run for the presidential office; that was open to the public. The rules say it’s enough simply to show your birth certificate, copy of your ID, 12 ID-type photos, and be age 18 or over. Does that make sense to you? Why hold the door open to the public like that?“

Hourcade: „Part of it’s propaganda. The government and the constitution allow all citizens to be candidates, and that’s a very good thing. But also: the people really want to take part. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iranians have participated in political life. There are crackdowns sometimes, but they take part. There’s undeniably a political dynamic. Iran has political debate, and so this time there are 636 candidates; in 2001 there were 1,075 I think. Often there are three, four or five hundred. The main problem is that then the Constitutional Guardians Council goes in and chooses the candidates, ruling out 99 percent of those who registered, and keeping just, say, ten of them, maximum. The criteria are obviously quite variable.“

euronews: „After what happened in 2009, what marks this election apart? Obviously, there were the 2009 riots, then four years of heavy economic sanctions against the country, and the constant nuclear question. So, how is this election different, compared with others?“

Hourcade: „They’re about maturity. For the past 34 years, every day we’ve said ‚the Islamic Republic is about to collapse!‘ Well, it’s still there. It’s the most stable government system in the Middle East. We see that especially after the Arab Spring. It’s a country that can move forward. We always talk about the Supreme Leader getting his own way; it’s more complicated than that. There are checks on power in Iran. The current reformer who is talked about… the symbolic Green Movement in 2009 wasn’t a movement; it was a very strong dynamic in society, but it wasn’t organised; there is no Green political party or institution. And so Iranians who demonstrated against Ahmadinejad in 2009 found themselves all alone, getting beaten, or imprisoned or shot.“

euronews: „Among the key issues for the country – the regime, actually – is, evidently, the nuclear question. Said Jalili, the chief nuclear negotiator, is himself a candidate for the presidency. He said recently that whoever the future president is, Iran’s policy won’t change, and its enrichment of uranium will not be broken off. What are your expectations for the regime’s nuclear policy?“

 

Gerald Tan explains Iran’s political power structure

Voters are going to the polls to elect a new president in Iran.More than 50 million people are eligible to vote.Whoever wins the election will be president in name but he will also be part of a complex leadership hierarchy.That’s because Iran has a Supreme Leader – as well as a president. Al Jazeera’s Gerald Tan explains the balance of power in Iran’s political system.

 

Election Campaign, Iranian Style – Part II

Photos by Mehr News Agency photographers

In many Iranian cities, supporters of various presidential candidates have taken to the streets to campaign for their favorite candidate. These photos show the people in Tehran on Wednesday engaged in the lively campaign.

I Will Vote

Campaigning for the presidency and for City Council positions ended at 8 AM today, Thursday June 13, and candidates are no longer allowed to engage in any form of advertisement. According to elections laws, advertising must end 24 hours prior to the actual elections. The elections are set for Friday, June 14.

Eight men were approved by the Guardian Council to run for president, out of which two have dropped out of the race.

Iran Presidential Vote Under Way

Source: RFE/RL

The voting is under way in Iran in an election to choose a replacement for President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

Opinion surveys have suggested a close race between moderate cleric and former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani, who is backed by pro-reform elements, and conservative candidate Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the current mayor of Tehran and a former security official.

Latest on the Race: Final Polls – and Shifts

Iranian elections are highly unpredictable due to the number of candidates and short campaigns. Polls for the 2013 presidential race were initially all over the map. But some polls now indicate that the two leading candidates are Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf. The other four are Mohammad Gharazi, Saeed Jalili, Mohsen Rezaei and Ali Akbar Velayati. Not all of the polls conducted in Iran are uniform in methodology. These are sample polls taken during the last two weeks of the campaign by Mehr News Agency in Iran and the U.S.-based Information and Public Opinion Solutions. About 50 million Iranians are eligible to vote on June 14.

IPOS: Rouhani Soars, Voters Begin to Decide

Mehr: Qalibaf Slips

 

 

Election Campaign In The Streets Of Tehran

Photos by Arash Khamooshi, ISNA

In recent days, supporters of Iranian presidential candidates have been taking to the streets to campaign for their favorite candidate. Photographer Arash Khamooshi has captured the excitement in the capital city Tehran. Iran’s 2013 presidential election will be held June 14. Eight men were approved by the Guardian Council to run in the election, out of which two have dropped out of the race.