Iran: Hassan Rouhani – One-time president now largely sidelined

Role: Seventh president of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2013-21)

Hassan Rouhani’s election as the Islamic Republic’s seventh president in 2013 marked the start of a period of rapprochement with western powers, which reached its apex with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal. However, the election in the United States of president Donald Trump in 2018 led to Rouhani’s key foreign policy achievement being unpicked.

Since leaving office in 2021, the ex-president has been largely sidelined. The centrist conservative was apparently deemed a sufficient threat to the regime he had until recently served that in January 2024 Rouhani was blocked from seeking an Assembly of Experts seat.

Social media- X: @HassanRouhani

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