President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have reached a nuclear arms agreement.
So who is Hassan Rouhani? When, in 2013, the Iranian people elected moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani their new president by a landslide, they surprised Washington, D.C., and the world. He ran on a platform of moderation and rationality, called for open talks with the West and placing the economy ahead of a nuclear program as a national priority. He also advocated for the release of political prisoners who were reformist.
Rouhani said in his first speech to the public, “This victory is the victory of wisdom, moderation and awareness over fanaticism and bad behavior.” Rouhani is no stranger to the West. He earned a Masters degree and a Ph.D. from Glasgow’s Caledonian University and lived in Paris for two years. In 2003, Rouhani was named Iran’s top nuclear negotiator and halted a clandestine military nuclear program.
In a 2006 letter published in Time, he argued that “a nuclear-weaponized Iran destabilizes the region, prompts a regional arms race, and wastes the scarce resources in the region.”
In 2003, President George W. Bush used fear to start an unnecessary war with Iraq. Please use your vote and voice to prevent the Republican Party from using fear to start an unnecessary war with Iran. Rouhani’s win represents an opportunity for easing relations between Iran and the West.
