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Hassan Rouhani is Iran’s next president

Hawk or dove?

Rouhani has a reputation for avoiding extreme positions and bridging differences, but he is no pushover. He has a long history of service in the country’s defense establishment.

He is a former commander of the Iranian air defenses, a leader on three war and defense councils, and was national security adviser to the president for 13 years before Ahmadinejad took office.

Rouhani is also a diplomatic and legal intellectual.

He has three law degrees, including a doctorate from a university in Scotland, and as president of Iran’s strategic research center, he regularly publishes essays.

He serves as managing editor for three quarterlies on scientific and strategic research, and foreign policy.

He was also Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 — during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami , who later became one of the leading figures in Iran’s rebellious “Green Movement,” which erupted into street protests after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

Ahmadinejad’s government violently quashed the protests with the help of elements of a unit of the Revolutionary Guard, which answers to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

Rouhani has expressed support for the Green Movement. “These were protests that were natural and popular,” he has said. “They should have been addressed.”

After Green supporters chanted for him at a rally security forces arrested members of his campaign.

Relationship with Khamenei

Rouhani’s relationship with Khamenei has the potential to be complex.

He has represented the supreme leader on Iran’s security council since 1989.

But he has purportedly also scrutinized him for being too rigid toward the international community, said Abbas Milani, who runs a research program on Iran at Stanford University.

In a book about his experience as Iran’s nuclear negotiator during Khatami’s presidency, Rouhani criticizes Ayatollah Khamenei, according to Milani.

“If you read in between the lines, he places a lot of blame on Khamenei. He says in is his book, that if it was up to him, he and his team would have come up with a solution that would not lead up to Iran’s case being deferred to the U.N.– saying ‘we could have done this, and some people in Iran and some in the West torpedoed it,” Milani said.

A televised presidential debate turned into an animated political clash, which touched on Iran’s nuclear program. Exchanges grew so heated that the candidates were later accused of having revealed national secrets during the debate.

Rouhani was warned that he may be barred from running in the elections because of confidential material he revealed about Iran’s nuclear program during the two-hour-long debate.

It wasn’t his first testy moment with Iran’s state-run media. He has openly accused it of censorship and publishing lies.

Many believe Rouhani was not Khamenei’s favorite candidate.

Saeed Jalili, Iran’s current chief nuclear negotiator, stands more in line with the supreme leader’s ultraconservative Islamist views than the moderate president-elect.

But Khamenei has said he is not playing favorites and would not let on whom he voted for.

And Khamenei and his Guardian Council had to approve all candidates before the race began. Out of 680 who applied to run, only eight were allowed to do so. Two later dropped out.

Ultimately, the supreme leader approved Rouhani’s candidacy after rejecting the candidacy of a former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Rafsanjani endorsed Rouhani during his campaign.

Rouhani is a senior cleric and also a member of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing or removing the supreme leader. As Khamenei ages and the appointment of a successor becomes necessary, Rouhani will likely have influence on the choice.

Ahmadinejad contrast

Though Ahmadinejad was touted as a hardliner when he entered office, since his re-election, conservative politicians close to the supreme leader have assailed him for being too liberal, and he has often been at odds with Khamenei.

His domestic opponents have been subject to similar caustic accusations his Western foreign opponents have become accustomed to.

Some of Ahmadinejad’s associates have faced heavy repression, and hardliners attempted to link the president to the largest embezzlement case in the country’s history. Ahmadinejad has hurled allegations of corruption back at them.

Rouhani is more likely to at least speak more diplomatically to internal and external challengers.

And unlike Ahmadinejad, when addressing United States politicians and citizens, he may not need a translator.

CNN’s Reza Sayah, Azadeh Ansari, Tara Kangarlou, Mitra Mobasherat and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/15/world/meast/iran-rouhani-profile/index.html?eref=edition

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Hassan Rouhani is Iran’s next president

Hawk or dove?

Rouhani has a reputation for avoiding extreme positions and bridging differences, but he is no pushover. He has a long history of service in the country’s defense establishment.

He is a former commander of the Iranian air defenses, a leader on three war and defense councils, and was national security adviser to the president for 13 years before Ahmadinejad took office.

Rouhani is also a diplomatic and legal intellectual.

He has three law degrees, including a doctorate from a university in Scotland, and as president of Iran’s strategic research center, he regularly publishes essays.

He serves as managing editor for three quarterlies on scientific and strategic research, and foreign policy.

He was also Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 — during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami , who later became one of the leading figures in Iran’s rebellious “Green Movement,” which erupted into street protests after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

Ahmadinejad’s government violently quashed the protests with the help of elements of a unit of the Revolutionary Guard, which answers to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

Rouhani has expressed support for the Green Movement. “These were protests that were natural and popular,” he has said. “They should have been addressed.”

After Green supporters chanted for him at a rally, security forces arrested members of his campaign.

Relationship with Khamenei

Rouhani’s relationship with Khamenei has the potential to be complex.

He has represented the supreme leader on Iran’s security council since 1989.

But he has purportedly also scrutinized him for being too rigid toward the international community, said Abbas Milani, who runs a research program on Iran at Stanford University.

In a book about his experience as Iran’s nuclear negotiator during Khatami’s presidency, Rouhani criticizes Ayatollah Khamenei, according to Milani.

“If you read in between the lines, he places a lot of blame on Khamenei. He says in is his book, that if it was up to him, he and his team would have come up with a solution that would not lead up to Iran’s case being deferred to the U.N.– saying ‘we could have done this, and some people in Iran and some in the West torpedoed it,” Milani said.

A televised presidential debate turned into an animated political clash, which touched on Iran’s nuclear program. Exchanges grew so heated that the candidates were later accused of having revealed national secrets during the debate.

Rouhani was warned that he may be barred from running in the elections because of confidential material he revealed about Iran’s nuclear program during the two-hour-long debate.

It wasn’t his first testy moment with Iran’s state-run media. He has openly accused it of censorship and publishing lies.

Many believe Rouhani was not Khamenei’s favorite candidate.

Saeed Jalili, Iran’s current chief nuclear negotiator, stands more in line with the supreme leader’s ultraconservative Islamist views than the moderate president-elect.

But Khamenei has said he is not playing favorites and would not let on whom he voted for.

And Khamenei and his Guardian Council had to approve all candidates before the race began. Out of 680 who applied to run, only eight were allowed to do so. Two later dropped out.

Ultimately, the supreme leader approved Rouhani’s candidacy after rejecting the candidacy of a former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Rafsanjani endorsed Rouhani during his campaign.

Rouhani is a senior cleric and also a member of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing or removing the supreme leader. As Khamenei ages and the appointment of a successor becomes necessary, Rouhani will likely have influence on the choice.

Ahmadinejad contrast

Though Ahmadinejad was touted as a hardliner when he entered office, since his re-election, conservative politicians close to the supreme leader have assailed him for being too liberal, and he has often been at odds with Khamenei.

His domestic opponents have been subject to similar caustic accusations his Western foreign opponents have become accustomed to.

Some of Ahmadinejad’s associates have faced heavy repression, and hardliners attempted to link the president to the largest embezzlement case in the country’s history. Ahmadinejad has hurled allegations of corruption back at them.

Rouhani is more likely to at least speak more diplomatically to internal and external challengers.

And unlike Ahmadinejad, when addressing United States politicians and citizens, he may not need a translator.

CNN’s Reza Sayah, Azadeh Ansari, Tara Kangarlou, Mitra Mobasherat and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/mV_ZvajLhq0/index.html

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/BEFTr_D1XYo/goodbye-ahmadinejad

Hassan Rouhani is Iran’s next president

Hawk or dove?

Rouhani has a reputation for avoiding extreme positions and bridging differences, but he is no pushover. He has a long history of service in the country’s defense establishment.

He is a former commander of the Iranian air defenses, a leader on three war and defense councils, and was national security adviser to the president for 13 years before Ahmadinejad took office.

Rouhani is also a diplomatic and legal intellectual.

He has three law degrees, including a doctorate from a university in Scotland, and as president of Iran’s strategic research center, he regularly publishes essays.

He serves as managing editor for three quarterlies on scientific and strategic research, and foreign policy.

He was also Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 — during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami , who later became one of the leading figures in Iran’s rebellious “Green Movement,” which erupted into street protests after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

Ahmadinejad’s government violently quashed the protests with the help of elements of a unit of the Revolutionary Guard, which answers to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

Rouhani has expressed support for the Green Movement. “These were protests that were natural and popular,” he has said. “They should have been addressed.”

After Green supporters chanted for him at a rally, security forces arrested members of his campaign.

Relationship with Khamenei

Rouhani’s relationship with Khamenei has the potential to be complex.

He has represented the supreme leader on Iran’s security council since 1989.

But he has purportedly also scrutinized him for being too rigid toward the international community, said Abbas Milani, who runs a research program on Iran at Stanford University.

In a book about his experience as Iran’s nuclear negotiator during Khatami’s presidency, Rouhani criticizes Ayatollah Khamenei, according to Milani.

“If you read in between the lines, he places a lot of blame on Khamenei. He says in is his book, that if it was up to him, he and his team would have come up with a solution that would not lead up to Iran’s case being deferred to the U.N.– saying ‘we could have done this, and some people in Iran and some in the West torpedoed it,” Milani said.

A televised presidential debate turned into an animated political clash, which touched on Iran’s nuclear program. Exchanges grew so heated that the candidates were later accused of having revealed national secrets during the debate.

Rouhani was warned that he may be barred from running in the elections because of confidential material he revealed about Iran’s nuclear program during the two-hour-long debate.

It wasn’t his first testy moment with Iran’s state-run media. He has openly accused it of censorship and publishing lies.

Many believe Rouhani was not Khamenei’s favorite candidate.

Saeed Jalili, Iran’s current chief nuclear negotiator, stands more in line with the supreme leader’s ultraconservative Islamist views than the moderate president-elect.

But Khamenei has said he is not playing favorites and would not let on whom he voted for.

And Khamenei and his Guardian Council had to approve all candidates before the race began. Out of 680 who applied to run, only eight were allowed to do so. Two later dropped out.

Ultimately, the supreme leader approved Rouhani’s candidacy after rejecting the candidacy of a former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Rafsanjani endorsed Rouhani during his campaign.

Rouhani is a senior cleric and also a member of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing or removing the supreme leader. As Khamenei ages and the appointment of a successor becomes necessary, Rouhani will likely have influence on the choice.

Ahmadinejad contrast

Though Ahmadinejad was touted as a hardliner when he entered office, since his re-election, conservative politicians close to the supreme leader have assailed him for being too liberal, and he has often been at odds with Khamenei.

His domestic opponents have been subject to similar caustic accusations his Western foreign opponents have become accustomed to.

Some of Ahmadinejad’s associates have faced heavy repression, and hardliners attempted to link the president to the largest embezzlement case in the country’s history. Ahmadinejad has hurled allegations of corruption back at them.

Rouhani is more likely to at least speak more diplomatically to internal and external challengers.

And unlike Ahmadinejad, when addressing United States politicians and citizens, he may not need a translator.

CNN’s Reza Sayah, Azadeh Ansari, Tara Kangarlou, Mitra Mobasherat and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report

Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~3/mV_ZvajLhq0/index.html

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Editor’s note: CNN’s Bryony Jones will be reporting from the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. Follow her on Twitter.

(CNN) — Hollywood’s stars may have moved on from the red carpets of Cannes, but the real “jet set” — the CEOs and executives who decide how, when and what we fly — are heading back to France.

The A-listers of global aviation will be at Le Bourget from June 17 to 23 for the 50th Paris Airshow — the biggest and most important event in the industry’s calendar, where billion-dollar deals are done at the edge of the runway as stunt pilots swoop through the skies overhead.

More than 2,100 companies from 44 countries around the world will fly in to showcase their wares at Le Bourget; from jumbo-sized jets and massive manufacturing tools to the tiniest springs, cogs and other components, as well as high-tech concepts which may not see the light of day for decades.

In years gone by, the show, held at the airfield where Charles Lindbergh landed after his pioneering transatlantic flight in 1927, has seen the debuts of some of aviation’s key developments — from Concorde to the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380.

Read more: And the world’s best airport is…

This time around, those hoping to spot aerospace’s next big thing may be out of luck. With just days to go before the visitors arrive, it is still unclear whether the industry’s two most eagerly-awaited new planes, Airbus‘ A350 and Bombardier‘s C-Series, will be at the show.

Both companies have warned the planes will be too busy carrying out flight tests to attend — but industry experts say there’s an outside chance they may still be spotted in the skies above Paris.

“We’re still waiting to find out whether the A350 will put in an appearance,” said Murdo Morrison, editor of aerospace industry magazine Flight International. “That certainly would be a highlight — it’s one of the newest and most exciting aircraft, but it and Bombardier’s C-Series are at a critical point in their development.

“It becomes a bit of a fight between the marketing people, the publicists, who want the company to get all the best headlines, and the engineers who are working to critical deadlines to get the plane ready to fly as soon as possible,” he explained.

Read more: Can ‘game-changer’ live up to name?

“What may happen is they pop in for one day — fly in and then fly out again — or even, in the case of the A350, that they do a flypast, without even landing.”

Le Bourget: Aviation history

1927: Charles Lindbergh lands at Le Bourget after non-stop transatlantic flight

1951: Le Bourget becomes the venue for the Paris Airshow, previously held in the city and at Orly Airport

1969: Supersonic jet Concorde and Boeing 747 make their debut at the show

1973: Tupolev 144 crashes during a flying display, killing six crew members and eight people on the ground

1983: NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise makes an appearance atop its Boeing 747 transporter plane

1989: The world’s largest plane, the Antonov 225, flies in, carrying Russia’s Buran space shuttle

2005: Airbus unveils its A380 super-jumbo at the show

2011: Solar Impulse’s display showcases the possibilities of solar-powered flight

With or without the C-Series and the A350, there will be plenty to look at, with flying displays, aerial acrobatics and all manner of military and commercial hardware ranged around the airfield for visitors to get up close to.

Boeing is flying in not one but two 787 Dreamliners, and Airbus says that visitors will still be able to explore a full-size model of the A350′s cockpit and cabin — whether or not the real thing arrives.

Show organizers say one of the highlights of the show for the general public (204,000 of whom visited in 2011) is likely to be the flying demonstrations by a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet.

And fittingly, given that 2013′s event will be the 50th Paris Airshow, there will be some looking back: homegrown French plane manufacturer Dassault will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its Mystere 20 business jet — the first of which will be on display at Le Bourget.

Read more: Are drones the highways of the future?

But Morrison said the real purpose of the event, and the reason for its significance, is the dealmaking and discussions that go on behind closed doors.

Throughout the show, the conference rooms and chalets lining the runway will play host to scores of high-powered briefings and meetings (in 2011 there were 151,000 trade visitors and 290 official delegations from around the world) at which aerospace movers and shakers will shape the future.

“The real reason the Paris Airshow exists is the industry side of things, the chance for face-to-face talks between suppliers and potential customers, the ‘down-in-the-weeds’ business discussions,” he said.

“For some manufacturers the show is all about the race for orders, how many deals they’ve signed, and others make a point of avoiding that. But nobody really goes to Paris and decides there and then, ‘I like that, let’s buy two,’ — it’s the meetings that matter.

“It’s not about past glories, it’s all about looking to the future: where the industry is going, rather than where it’s been.”

Follow all the action at the 2013 Paris Airshow via our Twitter list

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/11/business/paris-airshow-2013/index.html?eref=edition

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Opinion: Will Rouhani alter Iran’s policy on Syria?

The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with his military loyalists, the Revolutionary Guards and its militia wing Basij — the alliance that many believe stole the election in favor of the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — still remain in ultimate power. Many had suspected that the regime would go to extraordinary lengths, as it did in 2009, to manage the vote from start to finish.

Rouhani is Iran’s next president

Although the election was far from democratic, it provided an opportunity for many Iranians, especially the young, to break the deadly atmosphere of fear the government has imposed for the past four years. The watchdog Guardian Council had already helped Khamenei sideline his rivals, barring a prominent politician and a former president, Rafsanjani, from running in the race. Government forces arrested activists and campaigners in the months before the election.

Economic issues were paramount on the minds of voters as U.S.-led sanctions have reduced Iran’s oil revenue by half and shot the inflation rate up to more than 30%. Voters recalled Rouhani as the county’s pragmatist nuclear envoy who deterred threats in 2003 by signing the Additional Protocol, allowing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Further, Iran suspended its sensitive uranium enrichment activities, a process that can be used to make nuclear fuel or a nuclear bomb if uranium is enriched to high levels. Those measures built trust around Iran’s nuclear program until Ahmadinejad reversed them in 2005.

It is not clear if Khamenei’s hard-line allies will allow Rouhani to introduce real change. The president sets the tone for domestic and foreign policy and can make room for more moderate voices in politics. But he holds little power compared with the authority that the constitution gives Khamenei. If Khamenei is willing to end international pressure over Iran’s nuclear program, Rouhani provides the perfect opportunity.

Rouhani’s victory has already bolstered a sense of optimism. Iranian currency, the rial, strengthened slightly against the U.S. dollar for the first time on Saturday after its steady downward spiral since 2011. In his first message after his election, Rouhani declared that “a new chapter” has begun and hoped the international community would use a more respectful rhetoric toward Iran.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nazila Fathi.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/16/opinion/fathi-irans-new-leader/index.html?eref=edition

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Hassan Rouhani is Iran’s next president

Hawk or dove?

Rouhani has a reputation for avoiding extreme positions and bridging differences, but he is no pushover. He has a long history of service in the country’s defense establishment.

He is a former commander of the Iranian air defenses, a leader on three war and defense councils, and was national security adviser to the president for 13 years before Ahmadinejad took office.

Rouhani is also a diplomatic and legal intellectual.

He has three law degrees, including a doctorate from a university in Scotland, and as president of Iran’s strategic research center, he regularly publishes essays.

He serves as managing editor for three quarterlies on scientific and strategic research, and foreign policy.

He was also Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 — during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami , who later became one of the leading figures in Iran’s rebellious “Green Movement,” which erupted into street protests after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

Ahmadinejad’s government violently quashed the protests with the help of elements of a unit of the Revolutionary Guard, which answers to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

Rouhani has expressed support for the Green Movement. “These were protests that were natural and popular,” he has said. “They should have been addressed.”

After Green supporters chanted for him at a rally, security forces arrested members of his campaign.

Relationship with Khamenei

Rouhani’s relationship with Khamenei has the potential to be complex.

He has represented the supreme leader on Iran’s security council since 1989.

But he has purportedly also scrutinized him for being too rigid toward the international community, said Abbas Milani, who runs a research program on Iran at Stanford University.

In a book about his experience as Iran’s nuclear negotiator during Khatami’s presidency, Rouhani criticizes Ayatollah Khamenei, according to Milani.

“If you read in between the lines, he places a lot of blame on Khamenei. He says in is his book, that if it was up to him, he and his team would have come up with a solution that would not lead up to Iran’s case being deferred to the U.N.– saying ‘we could have done this, and some people in Iran and some in the West torpedoed it,” Milani said.

A televised presidential debate turned into an animated political clash, which touched on Iran’s nuclear program. Exchanges grew so heated that the candidates were later accused of having revealed national secrets during the debate.

Rouhani was warned that he may be barred from running in the elections because of confidential material he revealed about Iran’s nuclear program during the two-hour-long debate.

It wasn’t his first testy moment with Iran’s state-run media. He has openly accused it of censorship and publishing lies.

Many believe Rouhani was not Khamenei’s favorite candidate.

Saeed Jalili, Iran’s current chief nuclear negotiator, stands more in line with the supreme leader’s ultraconservative Islamist views than the moderate president-elect.

But Khamenei has said he is not playing favorites and would not let on whom he voted for.

And Khamenei and his Guardian Council had to approve all candidates before the race began. Out of 680 who applied to run, only eight were allowed to do so. Two later dropped out.

Ultimately, the supreme leader approved Rouhani’s candidacy after rejecting the candidacy of a former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Rafsanjani endorsed Rouhani during his campaign.

Rouhani is a senior cleric and also a member of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing or removing the supreme leader. As Khamenei ages and the appointment of a successor becomes necessary, Rouhani will likely have influence on the choice.

Ahmadinejad contrast

Though Ahmadinejad was touted as a hardliner when he entered office, since his re-election, conservative politicians close to the supreme leader have assailed him for being too liberal, and he has often been at odds with Khamenei.

His domestic opponents have been subject to similar caustic accusations his Western foreign opponents have become accustomed to.

Some of Ahmadinejad’s associates have faced heavy repression, and hardliners attempted to link the president to the largest embezzlement case in the country’s history. Ahmadinejad has hurled allegations of corruption back at them.

Rouhani is more likely to at least speak more diplomatically to internal and external challengers.

And unlike Ahmadinejad, when addressing United States politicians and citizens, he may not need a translator.

CNN’s Reza Sayah, Azadeh Ansari, Tara Kangarlou, Mitra Mobasherat and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/15/world/meast/iran-rouhani-profile/index.html?eref=edition

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CNN’s view on the streets of Tehran

CNN’s Erin Burnett on 2013 vs. 2009 elections

2009 chaos

Four years ago, when allegations of election fraud sparked widespread protests, Iran’s police and the Basij, a feared paramilitary group, cracked down on the opposition Green Movement.

Protesters were jailed, and human rights groups alleged many were tortured and killed behind bars while the government quashed the uprising.

Reform politicians representing the movement, including Ahmadinejad’s election rival, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Moussavi, have been under house arrest since 2011.

Despite the unrest, Ahmadinejad’s re-election was formally certified by the clerical establishment.

CNN’s Shirzad Bozorgmehr reported from Tehran and Michael Martinez reported and wrote from Los Angeles. Chelsea J. Carter, Laura Smith-Spark, Greg Botelho, Reza Sayah, Neda Farshbaf, Azadeh Ansari, Ben Brumfield, Mitra Mobasherat and Sara Mazloumsaki contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/15/world/meast/iran-elections/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/qzmJ644O7IY/centrist-hassan-rouhani-to-lead-iran-2

Hassan Rouhani is Iran’s next president

Hawk or dove?

Rouhani has a reputation for avoiding extreme positions and bridging differences, but he is no pushover. He has a long history of service in the country’s defense establishment.

He is a former commander of the Iranian air defenses, a leader on three war and defense councils, and was national security adviser to the president for 13 years before Ahmadinejad took office.

Rouhani is also a diplomatic and legal intellectual.

He has three law degrees, including a doctorate from a university in Scotland, and as president of Iran’s strategic research center, he regularly publishes essays.

He serves as managing editor for three quarterlies on scientific and strategic research, and foreign policy.

He was also Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 — during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami , who later became one of the leading figures in Iran’s rebellious “Green Movement,” which erupted into street protests after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

Ahmadinejad’s government violently quashed the protests with the help of elements of a unit of the Revolutionary Guard, which answers to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

Rouhani has expressed support for the Green Movement. “These were protests that were natural and popular,” he has said. “They should have been addressed.”

After Green supporters chanted for him at a rally, security forces arrested members of his campaign.

Relationship with Khamenei

Rouhani’s relationship with Khamenei has the potential to be complex.

He has represented the supreme leader on Iran’s security council since 1989.

But he has purportedly also scrutinized him for being too rigid toward the international community, said Abbas Milani, who runs a research program on Iran at Stanford University.

In a book about his experience as Iran’s nuclear negotiator during Khatami’s presidency, Rouhani criticizes Ayatollah Khamenei, according to Milani.

“If you read in between the lines, he places a lot of blame on Khamenei. He says in is his book, that if it was up to him, he and his team would have come up with a solution that would not lead up to Iran’s case being deferred to the U.N.– saying ‘we could have done this, and some people in Iran and some in the West torpedoed it,” Milani said.

A televised presidential debate turned into an animated political clash, which touched on Iran’s nuclear program. Exchanges grew so heated that the candidates were later accused of having revealed national secrets during the debate.

Rouhani was warned that he may be barred from running in the elections because of confidential material he revealed about Iran’s nuclear program during the two-hour-long debate.

It wasn’t his first testy moment with Iran’s state-run media. He has openly accused it of censorship and publishing lies.

Many believe Rouhani was not Khamenei’s favorite candidate.

Saeed Jalili, Iran’s current chief nuclear negotiator, stands more in line with the supreme leader’s ultraconservative Islamist views than the moderate president-elect.

But Khamenei has said he is not playing favorites and would not let on whom he voted for.

And Khamenei and his Guardian Council had to approve all candidates before the race began. Out of 680 who applied to run, only eight were allowed to do so. Two later dropped out.

Ultimately, the supreme leader approved Rouhani’s candidacy after rejecting the candidacy of a former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Rafsanjani endorsed Rouhani during his campaign.

Rouhani is a senior cleric and also a member of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing or removing the supreme leader. As Khamenei ages and the appointment of a successor becomes necessary, Rouhani will likely have influence on the choice.

Ahmadinejad contrast

Though Ahmadinejad was touted as a hardliner when he entered office, since his re-election, conservative politicians close to the supreme leader have assailed him for being too liberal, and he has often been at odds with Khamenei.

His domestic opponents have been subject to similar caustic accusations his Western foreign opponents have become accustomed to.

Some of Ahmadinejad’s associates have faced heavy repression, and hardliners attempted to link the president to the largest embezzlement case in the country’s history. Ahmadinejad has hurled allegations of corruption back at them.

Rouhani is more likely to at least speak more diplomatically to internal and external challengers.

And unlike Ahmadinejad, when addressing United States politicians and citizens, he may not need a translator.

CNN’s Reza Sayah, Azadeh Ansari, Tara Kangarlou, Mitra Mobasherat and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/15/world/meast/iran-rouhani-profile/index.html?eref=edition

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Editor’s note: Convicted spy Christopher Boyce was jailed for 40 years for espionage in 1977 after selling U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union. In 1985, his story was turned into a Hollywood film — “The Falcon and the Snowman” – starring Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton. Released in 2003, Boyce is currently working on his memoirs “The Falcon and The Snowman: American Sons.”

(CNN) — Sitting alone in a hotel room, unable to contact friends or family or even walk the teeming streets of Hong Kong without looking over his shoulder, there can be few who can claim to know the fear and isolation that NSA leaker Edward Snowden is living through.

One man, however, is better qualified than most.

Former spy, fugitive and convicted traitor, Christopher Boyce sold U.S. secrets to the former Soviet Union and dodged U.S. authorities for almost two years until his arrest in 1977 at the age of just 22.

Young, idealistic and driven by a mixture of political conviction and outlaw excitement, Boyce eventually received a 40-year sentence for espionage. In 1980, he escaped from the federal penitentiary in Lompoc, California and, while on the run, carried out a string of bank robberies in Idaho and Washington state — crimes for which he says he carries a greater weight of remorse than for those of espionage.

Released on parole in 2003 after serving 25 years, Boyce now lives on America’s West Coast and is working on his memoirs – “The Falcon and The Snowman: American Sons” — scheduled for release this year.

NSA defends surveillance

While Edward Snowden’s leaks allege that U.S. intelligence has been hacking networks around the world for years, the NSA’s stated position is that the administration, Congress and the courts are all aware of and have oversight of the NSA programs exposed by Snowden. NSA has also rejected his claims they can tap into the phone or computer of any U.S. citizen, saying that legally obtained phone records have helped to thwart “dozens” of terrorist events.

In it he outlines how, in 1974, a clean-cut college kid — the son of a respected former FBI agent — lands a job at aerospace and defense firm TRW in Southern California where he sees misrouted Central Intelligence Agency cables that allegedly discuss destabilizing the Australian government — then led by the center-left government of Gough Whitlam.

Whitlam’s government was famously and controversially deposed in 1975 in what some argue amounted to a constitutional coup d’etat. The then governor-general, the British queen’s representative in Australia, Sir John Kerr — who occupied a largely ceremonial office — invoked the rarely-used queen’s reserve powers to fire a democratically elected government to resolve a long-standing political deadlock in the country.

According to accounts by Boyce, the governor-general was casually referred to in CIA circles as “our man, Kerr.”

Only a few years earlier, Australia had been a key U.S. ally in the Vietnam War and Whitlam’s government had already raised ire in Washington by withdrawing Australian troops within hours of taking office in 1972.

By 1975, the Whitlam government was asking uncomfortable questions about key U.S. military installations based in Australia and Boyce claims that the CIA had the Whitlam government firmly in its sights.

Appalled that the U.S. secret services would use its powers of surveillance and secret influence to depose the government of a U.S. ally, Boyce teamed up with a childhood friend — Andrew Daulton Lee — and embarked on a journey that made them one of the Cold War’s most infamous spy teams.

The slow descent of the two former altar boys into a world of mistrust, madness and cold isolation was turned into a Hollywood hit for Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton, who starred in the 1985 movie “The Falcon and The Snowman.”

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/14/world/asia/hong-kong-boyce-snowden/index.html?eref=edition

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