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Khamenei, Iran Choose Statesman Rouhani

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has acquiesced to the will of the people and a perhaps more conciliatory political posture with the election of Hassan Rouhani.
Supporters of moderate cleric Hassan Rohani celebrate his victory in Iran's presidential election on a pedestrian bridge in Tehran June 15, 2013. Rohani won Iran's presidential election on Saturday, the interior ministry said, scoring a surprising landslide victory over conservative hardliners without the need for a second round run-off. REUTERS/Fars News/Amir Hashen Dehgani (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR  EDITORIAL

Two days before Iranians voted for who would succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of the Islamic Republic, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered a rhetorical olive branch to the country’s opposition. He said that even those who “do not support the Islamic system” should come out and vote.

Khamenei’s message was a direct and unprecedented acknowledgement of the reformists and millions of silent secularists who comprise Iran’s "opposition" as stakeholders in the country. It was also a message to them that their votes would count.

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