Reformist Hassan Rohani Won the 11th Presidential Election , Ready to Supersede Ahmadinejad


Iranian presidential candidate Rohani waves to supporters in the central Iranian city of Shiraz

JNN 15 June 2013 Tehran : Hassan Rohani has won Iran’s 11th presidential election following a vote that saw a massive popular turnout on June 14.

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar announced on Saturday that of a total of 36,704,156 valid ballots counted, Rohani won 50.70 percent of the ballots with 18,613,329 votes.
Following are the votes won by every candidate so far based on the percent of the total vote:

Hassan Rohani: 18,613,329 (50.70 %)

Principlist Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf  : 6,077,292 votes

Independent Mohsen Rezaei 3,884,412 votes

Principlist Saeed Jalili won 4,168,946 votes,

Principlist Ali-Akbar Velayati  2,268,753  votes

Independent Mohammad Gharazi  446,015 votes

A total of 1,245,409 ballots were declared invalid.

On Friday, millions of Iranian voters headed for polling stations to cast their ballots and choose the country’s 11th president as well as their representatives in the city and village councils.

Nearly 50.5 million Iranians, including more than 1.6 million first-time voters, were eligible to vote in the June 14 elections. The Interior Ministry put voter turnout at 72.7 percent.

If a candidate wins over fifty percent of the vote in the first round of the Iranian presidential election, he will replace incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Otherwise, a run-off will be held in a week’s time to determine a final winner.

The candidates’ rankings are calculated on the basis of the total number of the ballots cast.

Profile of Hassan Rohani

Hassan Rohani was born on November 13, 1948 in the city of Sorkheh in Semnan province.
Born into a religious family, Rohani started his religious studies in 1960 at Semnan Seminary. One year later, he moved to the holy city of Qom.

In 1969, he was admitted to Tehran University and after three years he got his BA in law.

Rohani continued his studies in law and managed to get his MA and PhD from Glasgow Caledonian University.

Rohani currently represents Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in the Supreme National Security Council, is member of the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts. He is also director of the Expediency Council’s Center for Strategic Research.

Since he was young, Rohani was involved in political struggles against the Shah reg

When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned home from exile in France in 1979, Rohani was politically active in Europe. He held question-and-answer sessions with students in Britain and France.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Rohani was elected to parliament. He served as MP for five consecutive terms up to 2000. In the parliament, he held high posts like vice-speaker of Majlis and head of Defense and Foreign Policy committees.

During the 1980-1988 Iraqi imposed war, Rohani served as member of the High Council of Defense, commander of Iran Air Defense and deputy commander-in-chief of Armed Forces.

After the establishment of the Supreme National Security Council, Rohani was named as representative of Ayatollah Khamenei to the council. He held the post for 16 years up to 2005. During the presidency of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his successor Mohammad Khatami (1989-1997), Rohani was also secretary of SNSC.

Since 1991, Rohani has been a member of the Expediency Council.

Rohani speaks fluent English, Arabic and Persian and has written nearly 100 books or articles and conducted more than 700 pieces of research.

Unexpected Voter’s Turn out In the Irani Elections

Informed sources say the voter turnout in Iran’s 11th presidential election has been around 74 percent, Press TV reports.
Meanwhile, Officials at the Election Headquarters of the Iranian Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that 6,387,317 valid ballots – from a total of 6,598,300 votes cast – have been counted at 12,058 polling stations so far (09:30 am Tehran time).

Candidate Hassan Rohani is in the lead, according to the results so far, with Principlist candidate Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf coming in second.

If a candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote in the first round, he will replace incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Otherwise, a run-off will be held in a week’s time to determine a final winner in the race.

On Friday, millions of Iranian voters headed for polling stations to cast their ballots and choose the country’s 11th president as well as their representatives in the City and Village Councils.

Nearly 50.5 million Iranians, including more than 1.6 million first-time voters, were eligible to vote in the June 14 elections.

Voting time Extended Four Times Due to High Voters Turn out in the Elections

Voting deadline for Iran’s 11th presidential as well as the fourth city and village councils elections has been extended four times, each time for one more hour, due to massive voter turnout.
In the fourth extension of the voting time, the Iranian Interior Ministry has extended the deadline to 2300 local time (1830 GMT).

The ministry said in a statement that voters can continue to cast their ballots until 2300 local time on Friday, five hours beyond the initial 10-hour deadline.

Head of the Election Committee of Tehran Province Safarali Baratlou said the voter turnout in the Friday elections is predicted to hit 70 percent in Tehran Province. Extra ballots are also being sent to the province’s polling stations.

Polls officially opened across Iran at 8:00 a.m. (0330 GMT) and were originally scheduled to end at 6 p.m. (1330 GMT).

The country’s Election Headquarters, meanwhile, said there had been no report of major irregularities from the polling stations, where representatives of the candidates have been stationed for more transparency.

Nearly 50.5 million Iranians, including more than 1.6 million first-time voters, are eligible to vote in the June 14 elections.

President of the Expediency Council’s Center for Strategic Research Hassan Rohani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili, Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, and former Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Gharazi are the six candidates running in the presidential election.

Over 200,000 candidates are also running for city and rural councils elections.

Incumbent Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has congratulated Hassan Rohani following his victory in Iran’s 11th presidential election.

In a message on Saturday, Ahmadinejad congratulated Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Iranian nation and the president-elect on the important June 14 election.

“I have always deeply believed in the vast and endless capacities of the Iranian nation for development and [achieving] greatness,” Ahmadinejad said in his message.

“I believe that all peaks of glory can be conquered by believing and trusting in the Iranian nation and by respecting different interests and tastes,” the Iranian president added.

Rohani’s rivals including Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, former Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Velayati, Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili also congratulated Rohani on his victory.

Former presidential candidates including Mohammad-Reza Aref and Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, who withdrew their bids for presidency before June 14 election, also felicitated Rohani following his victory.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has expressed his gratitude to the Iranian people for their massive turnout in the June 14 presidential as well as city and village council elections.

In a message on Saturday, the Leader also congratulated Hassan Rohani on his victory in the presidential ballot.

Ayatollah Khamenei said Friday’s elections were yet another landmark test which showed the Iranian nation’s determination to friends and foes alike.

The huge voter turnout on Friday showed off the strong bond between Iranians and the Islamic establishment to all ill-wishers who have resorted to “hundreds of political, economic and security ploys” to undermine the trust and affinity between the nation and the Islamic system, added Ayatollah Khamenei.

“The real winner of yesterday’s (Friday, June 14) election is the great Iranian nation which … prudently and tactfully confronted the war of nerves launched by the lackeys of (global) hegemony,” the Leader underlined.

Elsewhere in his message, Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the president-elect is the president of all Iranians, adding cooperation and friendship should replace the rivalry of the campaign days.

The Leader also thanked all other presidential candidates for entering the scene, and said their participation contributed to the electoral fervor and creation of an exciting competition.

Iran’s Approved Presidential Candidates List for Election 2013 Released


Iranian Presidency Candidates listJNN 22 May 2013 Tehran : Iran’s Interior Ministry has published the list of the hopefuls approved to run as official candidates for president in the country’s eleventh presidential election slated for June 14, Press reports. Continue reading

Erdogan Attends Ashura Ceremony in Istanbul, Addresses Mourners


JNN 17 Dec 2010 Ankara :Thousands of Turkish Shia braved freezing temperatures to commemorate the day of Ashura. There was a huge turnout at the Ashura  Muharram in Turkey where marches and mourning consolations were taking place in Ankara and Istanbul, and many other places. Erdogan delivered a speech about the moral meanings of the occasion.

Senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ali Akbar Velayati, was among the attendees in the ceremony and addressed the mourners describing the third Shia Imam, Imam Hussein (PBUH), as the symbol of fight against oppression.

Erdogan attended the ceremony this year for the first time since his AK party came to power in 2002.

Erdogan, who is a follower of the Hanafi school of the Sunni branch of Islam, delivered a speech at the ceremony, in which he discussed the importance of unity between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

“We have been feeling the pain of Karbala for 1,370 years. We have to feel that pain in our hearts. We remember (Imam) Hussein (AS) whenever an innocent person is killed,” the Turkish prime minister said as he began his speech.

“This country is ours, these lands are all ours, this history, this civilization is ours. Nobody can claim superiority to any other. We are equal to each other and we are all brothers in these lands. We are all first-class citizens of this country. The problems of all religious groups in my country are mine. That’s why we are struggling to address century-old problems through consensus. Aren’t there those who oppose us? Of course, there are. But we will overcome this with patience,” Erdogan added.

Erdogan’s participation in Ashura ceremony is a sign of Islamic unity

Addressing the Ashura mourners in Istanbul, Velayati described Erdogan’s participation in the ceremony as an extremely significant symbol of Islamic unity.

He also pointed to Turkey’s role in defending Islamic values and foiling plots against Muslim countries.

Ashura symbolizes unity among Muslims, justice, devotion, and the struggle against oppression, Velayati added.

He said that Imam Hussein’s uprising was aimed at reviving Islam and teaching Muslims to rise against bullying powers. Velayati also called on all Muslims to stand for the rights of Palestinians. He said that Muslim countries were obliged to defend the Palestinian nation in the asymmetrical war against Israel.

Velayati noted that the Gaza siege was a clear sign of Israel’s tyranny against Muslims and the people of Gaza, adding that the teachings of Imam Hussein (PBUH) tasked Muslims to extend assistance to the Palestinian nation. He also highlighted Turkey’s status in defending Islamic values and confronting conspiracies against Muslim countries.