Iranians demanding change deliver emphatic victory for Rouhani
Sat May 20, 2017 | 8:56am EDT
By Parisa Hafezi and Babak Dehghanpisheh | DUBAI/BEIRUT
Iranians yearning for more freedom at home and less isolation abroad have emphatically re-elected President Hassan Rouhani, throwing down a challenge to the conservative clergy that still holds ultimate sway.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmanifazli announced Rouhani's victory on Saturday on state television. Rouhani secured 57 percent of the vote in Friday's election, compared to 38 percent for his main rival, hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi, according to figures cited by Rahmanifazli.
Although the powers of the elected president are limited by those of unelected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who outranks him, the scale of Rouhani's victory gives the pro-reform camp a strong mandate to seek the sort of change that hardliners have managed to thwart for decades.
Rouhani's opponent Raisi, a protege of Khamenei, had united the conservative faction and had been tipped in Iranian media as a potential successor for the 77-year-old supreme leader who has been in power since 1989. His defeat leaves the conservatives without an obvious flag bearer.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-election-idUSKCN18E2Y8?il=0
