Supreme Leader Khamenei AsksAll Iranian Factions to Help Rouhani
Barbara Slavin reports from Tehran, where Hassan Rouhani officially became the Islamic Republic's 11th president on Aug. 3, 2013.
TEHRAN — Hassan Rouhani, a veteran official of the Islamic Republic of Iran, became the country's 11th president on Aug. 3, 2013, promising “to reduce people’s problems so they can have a better life.”
Rouhani, a 64-year-old cleric, was formally endorsed by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who retains final say on all key foreign and domestic policies.
In a brief ceremony attended by most of Iran’s ruling establishment, Khamenei praised the results of the June 14 elections — which gave Rouhani a solid win over a field of six conservatives — as affirming Iran’s “Islamic democracy.”
On Aug. 4, Rouhani and his new cabinet, including US-educated former UN ambassador Mohammad Javad Zarif as foreign minister, will take the oath of office before parliament and visiting foreign dignitaries and commence contending with Iran’s serious diplomatic, economic and social challenges.
