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TEHRAN — Hassan Rowhani, a cleric embraced by reformists and moderates as an alternative to the nation’s hard-line leadership, appeared headed toward a landslide victory Saturday in elections to succeed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Running a distant second was a conservative office seeker, Tehran Mayor Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guard commander and police chief who was garnering about 15% of the vote.
Rowhani’s apparent margin of victory was a huge surprise, reflecting several factors, including a tactically adept campaign and a fractured alliance among his hard-line opponents. Many observers had assumed that one of his conservative rivals would likely emerge victorious, or at least make it into a runoff election. But instead the conservative vote was split, analysts said, opening the way for Rowhani to pull away from the pack.
In a sea of hard-liners, a victory for Rowhani would be a win for reformist sentiment in Iran, observers say.
ISTANBUL — The man poised to take the Iranian presidency is a moderate-conservative known for his negotiating skill over the country's nuclear weapons program and a reformist some hard-liners in Iran previously saw as too liberal and conciliatory, analysts say.
As a result, analysts predict Hasan Rowhani, who took a wide lead in early returns from Friday's election, might take the country's top political post and bring hope to the country's liberal classes but not wield any real power, especially on the nuclear issue.
"A president Rowhani would probably try to persuade the supreme leader that a deal on the nuclear issue would be in the interest of the Islamic Republic, especially if Rowhani believes that it is the only way to avoid a war," said Bruno Tertrais, a senior researcher at Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris. "But (Supreme Leader) Khamenei will remain the ultimate decision-maker."
The Iranian interior ministry announced on Saturday that moderate cleric Hasan Rowhani has won the country’s presidential election, NBC News confirms.
Rowhani won with a fraction over the 50 percent of the vote needed to win outright on the first poll. Voter turnout was recorded at 72.7 percent.
Press TV, an Iranian state media outlet, reported that Rowhani was born in the city of Sorkheh and earned his masters and doctorate degrees at Glasgow Caledonian University.
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