"Hello, Iran, with your face covered in dust,” greeted presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani in a half-hour documentary aired to millions of Iranians on state TV Tuesday night [June 4]. “We are in a cultural, economic and political winter and the weather is unfairly cold,” he said, quoting Persian poet Mehdi Akhavan-Sales.

In the 30 minutes of airtime provided to each of the eight approved candidates for the June 14 election, the little-known Rouhani put up a robust performance, criticizing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration and campaigning on broad, but as yet ill-defined, reforms for the country. He pledged his presidency would “end isolation for the Iranian people.”

His high-profile — but behind the scenes — political biography was aired, as were vague allusions to what to expect for his political agenda, under the campaign slogan, “Government of Proficiency and Hope.”

The reformist-leaning cleric comes from the same political stable as centrist ex-President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was rejected from running in the election on May 21 by Iran’s Guardian Council. Rouhani is considered a long shot for the election, but his campaign has been gaining momentum over the past week and local media suggest he is days away from winning official support of Iran’s reformists, which could mobilize significant numbers of voters for him.