Hassan Rouhani wins Iran presidential election

[WestVirginiaRebel]

BBC:

Crowds gathered in Tehran to hail Mr Rouhani, who said he had achieved a "victory of moderation over extremism".

A turnout of 72.2% was registered of the 50 million Iranians who were eligible to vote for the successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was well behind in second place.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Mr Rouhani on his victory.

"I urge everyone to help the president-elect and his colleagues in the government, as he is the president of the whole nation," he said.

Ayatollah Khamenei will ratify the vote on 3 August and the new president will then take the oath in parliament.

Mr Rouhani, who has pledged greater engagement with Western powers, said: "This victory is a victory for wisdom, moderation and maturity... over extremism."

________

 

Well, we'll see...

[Valin]

"This victory is a victory for wisdom, moderation and maturity... over extremism."

 

 

Riiiight. Tell me another, because I believe that one.

[Valin]

Iran's New President is Lipstick on a Pig

Michael J Totten

6/17/13

 

Bigoted buffoon Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has finally been fired as the president of Iran and replaced by the supposed moderate reformer Hassan Rowhani, who just won a landslide victory with more than fifty percent of the vote in a crowded field of eight candidates.

“The sun of my moderation has risen,” announced Arman, a reformist newspaper. The election, according to another reformist newspaper called Shargh, signifies “the return of hope and victory for reformers and moderates.”

 

Some journalists in the West are swooning, as well. Rowhani’s election, writes Karl Vick at Time magazine, “may bring the country out of the severe economic and diplomatic isolation imposed by world powers intent on Iran’s nuclear program.” “Hassan Rouhani's victory in the Iranian election is truly stunning,” writes Jonathan Steele at The Guardian. “It opens a window of hope for an easing of tension between Iran and the west on the strained nuclear file but also on the more urgent issue – the self-destructive clash between Shia and Sunni Islam that is killing thousands in Syria and Iraq and threatens the entire Middle East region.”

 

Well, maybe, but probably not. It’s way too early to get carried away.

 

First of all, Rowhani is not the head of state. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is. Rowhani is basically a powerless figurehead. So there’s that.

 

Second, Iran’s election only looks democratic and meaningful if you squint hard enough at it. So stop squinting and look at it squarely. Khamenei, Iran’s actual tyrannical ruler, wasn’t elected. He was hand-picked by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. And Khamenei and his claque of appointed jurists hand-picked all the presidential candidates who just stood for election. Those they didn’t approve of (and they were legion) did not get to run.(Snip)

 

 

Why do people like Karl Vick & Jonathan Steele write this kind of clap trap that they know is wrong? If they don't know its wrong than they are even dumber that think they are.