A biography of the 7th president of Iran

"Hassan Rowhani” is the seventh and current presidentof the "Islamic Republic of Iran". He was considered a leading candidate in the June election because of his centrist views and close ties to Iran’s ruling clerics.

Rowhani won 55 percent of the vote in the run-off poll against 5 others presidential candidates including "Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf”, "Mohsen Rezaee”, "Ali Akbar Velayati”, "Mohammad Gharazi” and "Iranian chief nuclear negotiator”, "Saeed Jalili”.

Rowhani: an experienced politician 

Dr. Hassan Rowhani is a famous politician in Iran. He was assigned to a league of responsibilities during his political career since "Iran`s Islamic revolution".

"Deputy speaker" of the 4th and 5th terms of the "Islamic Consultative Assembly", secretary of the "Supreme National Security Council", "Iran’s former top nuclear program negotiator", member of the "Assembly of Experts", member of the "Islamic Republic of Iran’s Expediency Council", and the head of the "Center for Strategic Research", were among responsibilities "Hassan Rowhani" assigned in his political career.

The newly elected president of Iran chose this slogan in the presidential campaign: "the government of hope and wisdom".

Early life and education

"Hassan Rowhani" was born in 1948 in"Sorkheh", near"Semnan". He started religious studies in 1960 in "Qom Seminary".He attended classes taught by prominent scholars of that time including "Seyed Mohaqqiq Damaad", "Sheikh Morteza Haeri", "Seyed Mohammad Reza Golpayegani". In addition, he studied modern courses, and was admitted to the"University of Tehran"in 1969, and obtained his "bachelor’s degree" in "judicial law" in 1972.

Rowhani continued his studies in the West and graduated from "Glasgow Caledonian University"in 1995 with an "M Phil thesis" entitled "The Islamic legislative power with reference to the Iranian experience", followed by a "PhD degree" in 1999.

Political career

Early years

As a young cleric, Dr. Rowhani started his political activities by following "Ayatollah Khomeini" during the beginning of the "Iranian Islamic movement". In 1965, he began traveling throughout Iran making speeches against the Shah. During those years he was arrested many times and was banned from delivering public speeches.

Since "Rowhani" was prosecuted by the"SAVAK", "Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti" and "Ayatollah Motahhari"advised him to leave the country. Once outside Iran, he made public speeches to Iranian students studying abroad and joined"Imam Khomeini" upon arriving in Paris.

In addition to executive posts, the current president of Iran kept up his scientific activities. From 1995 to 1999, he was a member of "the board of trustees" of "Tehran Universities and North Region". Rowhani has been running the "Center for Strategic Research" since 1991. He is the "managing editor" of three scientific and research quarterlies in Persian and English.

After the Islamic Revolution

Following the victory of the "Islamic Revolution" in Iran, "Hassan Rowhani" started with organizing the disorderly Iranian army and military bases. He was elected to the "Islamic Consultative Assembly" in 1980. During five terms in the"Majlis" and for a total period of 20 years (from 1980 to 2000), he served in various capacities including "deputy speaker of the Majlis"(in 4th and 5th terms), as well as "the head of defense committee" (1st and 2nd terms), and "foreign policy committee" (4th and 5th terms).

Responsibilities during war

During the "Iran-Iraq war", Rowhani was a member of the "Supreme Defense Council" (1982-1988), member of the "High Council for Supporting War" and headed its "Executive Committee" (1986-1988), deputy commander of the war (1983-1985), commander of the "Khatam-ol-Anbiya Operation Center" (1985-1988), and commander of the "Iran Air Defense Force" (1986-1991). He was appointed as "Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces" (1988-1989).

War glories

At the end of the war, Hassan Rowhani was awarded the "second-grade Fath Medal". In another ceremony, on the occasion of the liberation of"Khoramshahr", he and a group of other officials and military commanders who were involved in the war with Iraq were awarded "first-grade NasrMedal" by the "Commander-in-Chief" of the "Armed Forces", "Ayatollah Khamenei".

After war responsibilities

After constituting "Supreme National Security Council", the "11th president of Iran" was assigned as the representative of the "Supreme Leader" at the council.

Rowhani was the first "secretary of the SNSC" and kept it for 16 years (from 1989 to 2005). He was also "national security advisory" – to "President Hashemi" and "President Khatami"– for 13 years (from 1989 to 1997 and from 2000 to 2005).

In 1991, Rowhani was appointed to the"Expediency Council" and has kept that post up to the present time. He heads "Political, Defense, and Security Committee" of the Expediency Council.

In the midterm elections for the third term of the"Assembly of Experts" which was held on 18 February 2000, Rowhani was elected to the "Assembly of Experts" from "Semnan Province".

Nuclear Dossier

As a former MP of Majlis, Rowhani was also assigned as the secretary of the "Supreme National Security Council" for 16 years. His career at the Council began under President "Hashemi Rafsanjani" and continued under his successor, "President Khatami". His term as "Iran’s top nuclear negotiator", however, was limited to 678 days (from 6 October 2003 to 15 August 2005).

Rowhani and his team based their efforts on dialogue and confidence building due to political and security conditions as well as strong propaganda against Iran. As a first step, they prevented further escalation of accusations against Iran in order to prevent reporting Iran’s nuclear case to the"United Nations Security Council". Therefore, and for the purpose of confidence building, certain parts of Iran’s nuclear activities were voluntarily suspended at several junctures.

In addition to building confidence, insisting on Iran’s rights, reducing international pressures and the possibility of war, and preventing Iran’s case from being reported to the UN Security Council, Iran succeeded in completing its nuclear fuel cycle and took groundbreaking steps.

The Diplomat Sheikh

Although Rowhani had already appeared as a diplomat and taken part in many meetings and negotiations with foreign officials as "Majlis deputy speaker" or the "secretary of the Supreme National Security Council", it was his leading role in the nuclear negotiations which brought him the nickname of "diplomat Sheikh.”