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Former Nuclear Negotiator Joins Iranian Presidential Race

Hassan Rouhani, a top official during a time of warmer Iranian relations with the West, could be the standard-bearer for the reformist/pragmatist camp in upcoming presidential elections.
Iran's former top nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani (C) attends a ceremony where he announced his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election in Tehran on April 11, 2013. The June 14 election will be followed closely four years after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election for a second term sparked a wave of violent protests that were suppressed by the regime with deadly force. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE        (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

The latest addition to what is already becoming a crowded field of Iranian presidential contenders — former national security adviser Hassan Rouhani — could insure that the issue of Iran’s nuclear program figures in what might otherwise be a lackluster campaign.

Rouhani, 64, who announced his candidacy today [April 11], is closely associated with former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has been marginalized since his loss to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 and especially since Ahmadinejad’s disputed 2009 re-election. However, Rouhani kept his head down during post-2009 disturbances and so has a better chance of surviving the vetting process that precedes Iran’s June 14 vote.

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