Profile: Hassan Rouhani
Hassan Rouhani, 64, has been elected new president of Iran.
He was the only cleric contesting the Iranian presidential election. He says he wants to steer the country towards moderation and has the backing of the reformists led by former President Mohammad Khatami. He had the endorsement of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who represents other moderate Islamists and is barred from running for office. He pulled large crowds wherever he was on the campaign trail - speaking of reform, promising to free political prisoners, to guarantee civil rights and promising to return "dignity to the nation".
In televised debates, he raised taboo subjects, such as the nuclear stand-off with world powers, damaging international sanctions, the dire state of the economy and Iran's extreme isolation in the international community. He has also vowed to restore diplomatic ties with Iran's old enemy, the United States, which cut relations with Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by Islamist students. Mr Rouhani urged Iranians to vote, saying that the hardliners "don't want you to vote, they want to win the ballot unchallenged".
Key figure
He is a key figure in Iranian politics, having held several parliamentary posts such as deputy speaker and as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative at the Supreme National Security Council. Mr Rouhani was Iran's chief nuclear negotiator under Mr Khatami, and he currently heads the Expediency Council's Strategic Research Centre (the council is a top advisory body to the Supreme Leader).
During student demonstrations against the closure of a reformist newspaper in 1999, Mr Rouhani adopted a tough stance, declaring that those arrested for sabotage and destroying state property would face the death penalty if found guilty. But more recently, he supported the demonstrations that erupted after the 2009 election and criticised the government for opposing what he saw as the people's right to peacefully protest.
And he has openly criticised outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by saying that his "careless, uncalculated and unstudied remarks" have cost the country dearly. Mr Rouhani is said to be fluent in English, German, French, Russian and Arabic, and has a law doctorate from Glasgow Caledonian University. From BBC, London.
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