“Without the Reformists’ support, Mr. Rouhani would have gotten less than 2 million votes,” said Sadegh Zibakalam, professor of political science at the University of Tehran, speaking on May 5 about the June 2013 presidential elections.
Zibakalam played an active role in Hassan Rouhani’s presidential campaign and was even featured in a television documentary encouraging people to vote for Rouhani. The push by Reformists during the last few days leading up to the elections resulted in Rouhani getting more than 50% of the votes in the first round. Perhaps the most important of these developments was when, after pressure from the Reformist former President Mohammad Khatami, Mohammad-Reza Aref (the Reformist candidate) withdrew from the race in favor of Rouhani.