News analysis

TEHRAN, Iran - Dancing in the streets of Tehran greeted the news that Hassan Rowhani had won Iran’s race for president over the weekend, as voters hailed the reformist cleric’s victory.
 
The mostly young Iranians lit Chinese lanterns and chanted slogans like “bye-bye Ahmadi,” in reference to outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who became unpopular with reformist voters after the last elections.

A similar scene took place in 2009 -- young Iranians chanting the same slogans -- but the demonstrations ended in a bloody crackdown.

Unlike celebrations four years ago, the rejoicing over the weekend was peaceful and passed without incident. 

Rowhani, 64, declared the election was a "victory of moderation over extremism.” What the election revealed, however, was just how divided Iran is between reformists and conservatives.

Rowhani, the country’s former chief nuclear negotiator and the only non-conservative in the field, got more than 18 million votes. Meanwhile, the five conservative candidates combined garnered just under 18 million.
 
Iran’s standing internationally preoccupied many in the crowd. 
 
"We have had a very bad image in world over the last eight years – we want our dignity back now," said Shanaz, a young woman who attended the street festivities.
 
Tehran is at loggerheads with much of the world over its nuclear program, which it insists is for peaceful purposes. 
 
Some of those celebrating in Tehran also said they were anxious to win back some of the freedoms that the 2009 crackdown extinguished. 

Ebrahim Noroozi / AP

Supporters of Hasan Rowhani celebrate following his victory in Iran's presidential election.

"We want some social freedoms back, we want to be able to breathe again, and we want better relations with the rest of the world,” said Ramin, a man in his forties. “I hope Rowhani can deliver, but he is going to have a tough job."
 
Rowhani's challenges include lessening tensions with the West over Iran's nuclear program, reviving an economy crumbling under strict international sanctions and resolving sensitive issues such as what to do about former reformist presidential candidates Mir-Hussien Mousavi and Medi Karoubi, who are under house arrest.
 
Rowhani is a centrist who seems to have good relations with people on both ends of the political spectrum in Iran. He has never posed a challenge to the Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, and has been loyal to the country's principles steeped in the Islamic religion.

But the key to his success in this election was the backing he got from the country’s leading reformist, former President Mohammad Khatami, one of the pillars of the revolution, and great political survivor and also former president, Ali-Akbar Rafsanjani.
 
Nobody knows what Rowhani will do next, but he is known to be a pragmatist. During his time as chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005, he brokered a deal that saw Iran suspend its uranium enrichment.

This move that made him popular in the West did not do the same in Iran. During the campaign, conservatives accused him of selling Iran's nuclear rights down the river and making too many concessions, which they believe weakened Iran.

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In his campaign speeches, Rowhani said he supported greater personal freedoms for Iranians and a less intimidating security system. He also said Iran must stop wallowing in mediocrity because it is a powerful country with huge resources.
 
Significant to the outside world, he also called for better relations with the West, especially the United States. He has said that the only way to get Iran out of its current rut was to negotiate with America.
 
The news of Rowhani's election victory had an almost immediate economic effect in Iran – its currency, the rial, strengthened against the dollar and the country’s stock market climbed for the second day in a row.
 
But the optimism both inside and outside the country is tempered by the knowledge that final decisions on matters of state, foreign policy and the nuclear issue lie with the Supreme Leader – and he isn't going anywhere.

It is still too early to know whether Rowhani will herald in a period of tangible policy changes or just a softening of tone instead of substance.

Related:

• Who is Iran's new president? Nine things you need to know about Rowhani
• Jubilant Iranians cheer election of new president Hassan Rowhani

Mike Segar / Reuters file

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has denied the Holocaust existed, holds up copies of the Koran and the Bible as he addresses the 65th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York in this Sept. 23, 2010 file photo.

Friday’s presidential election in Iran dictates that the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s time in office will end soon, but experts say the controversial head of state is "unlikely to retire quietly."

After eight years in office – he was elected to a second term in 2009 amid riots over allegations of voting irregularities — Ahmadinejad has reached his term limit. Friday's election pitted six Iranian presidential hopefuls against each other; the victor, moderate cleric Hasan Rowhani, will lead a nation that has been marred by economic troubles and hit with sanctions from the West for its provocative nuclear program.

U.S.-based Iran experts don’t anticipate Ahmadinejad will fade away, and predict that he’ll do what he can to stay in the political spotlight.

"I suspect he's looking for a second act," said Suzanne Maloney, a fellow in the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute and a former State Department policy adviser.

“He is unlikely to retire quietly in the way that his predecessors have done where they play a role in the political scene, but they are very cautious not to disrupt the balance of power in any way. That's not Ahmadinejad's style," Maloney said.

At 56, Ahmadinejad is "a young man by the standards of Iranian politics," said New York City-based Iranian-American journalist Hooman Majd, whose book “The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran” explores contemporary Iranian culture while challenging Western beliefs about the nation.

"He has to retire temporarily," Majd said. "[But] he is eligible to run again in four years. I doubt very much knowing his personality that he is willing to give up on politics altogether. He has tasted power; he likes power. He believes very strongly that he is right about many things, as crazy as it may sound. He's not someone who has ever admitted a mistake. He always thinks he is right."

Whether it's in four years or eight years, Majd thinks Ahmadinejad could launch a successful campaign with the support of Iran’s lower classes, who have received cash subsidies during Ahmadinejad’s presidency.

"I think he will still be able to portray himself as a man of the people, taking care of the poor, not someone who has lived luxuriously. All those things that appeal to the working class," Majd said.

Others, including Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow of Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, are skeptical that Ahmadinejad will find a supportive public.

"He would have to have a constituency, a popular base. And he doesn't seem to have that," he said. "I think his presence in the last week of the election, his insignificance and inconsequentiality, probably portends his life after office."

"He's kind of alienated the institutions of the state and he doesn't have, particularly in the aftermath of the 2009 election, much of a popular constituency anymore," Takeyh said. "He can assert himself by making speeches, giving talks, and just being provocative, and that garners all sorts of attention, but in terms of influencing the country, he's not likely to be important."

"I think he'll continue to engage in public advocacy," he added. "He may even travel abroad to third-world countries, but I'm not sure if he'll be a force in terms of the domestic policies of the countries."

Whether Ahmadinejad will be able to build a base for a triumphant return also depends on what type of political environment the next president creates, said Ali Vaez, a senior analyst with the D.C.-based International Crisis Group, who used to head the Iran Project at the Federation of American Scientists.

"During [ex-President Akbar Hashemi] Rafsanjani's time, people always accused him of being corrupt, and they were looking forward to his term ending. When [ex-President Mohammad] Khatami came to office, and the internal rivalries between the reformists and conservatives almost paralyzed the system, people were longing for Rafsanjani's time, when things were simple and straightforward," Vaez said.

"And then again during Khatami, there was a lot of frustration, with him not being able to implement political reforms, and then when Ahmadinejad came to power, everyone started missing Khatami and the openness and social freedoms that existed under his presidency. People have always been nostalgic about the previous presidents.

"If the administration improves, I think Ahmadinejad will have a hard time creating a positive legacy for himself," he said. "If you have a hard-line president who will watch over Iran's further economic decline and isolation, maybe people will start missing Ahmadinejad." 

Ahmadinejad to 'start teaching again'?
Ahmadinejad will have to occupy himself in the immediate future outside of Tehran’s presidential palace when he leaves office on Aug. 3. He holds a Ph.D. in traffic control and transportation from Tehran's University of Science and Technology — where he was once a lecturer.

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"He himself has said that he will go back to the university and start teaching again," Vaez said. "He might even go and teach political science or international relations. He has said that he will go back to academic life. I take him at his word. I think it's the most likely scenario for him."

His legacy will be a complicated one.

"He will be remembered as a rabble-rouser," Maloney said. "In many respects, he's been a very paradoxical character. Obviously, the reprehensible rhetoric about Israel, about the Holocaust, is what has drawn him the greatest attention. And yet I think it's also fair to say that Ahmadinejad has at times pushed more significantly for changes that may have had positive implications for Iran under a different sort of leadership.

"He was the one figure within the establishment who was really pressing for some sort of a nuclear deal with Washington, and was turned around. That was blocked by the Supreme Leader and the rest of the conservative establishment," she said. "He also has managed to push through some economic reforms despite really tremendously awful management of the economy, but he's managed to address underlying issues that his predecessor simply didn't have the political will to put forward in terms of dealing with this problem of subsidies."

However, she added, "He will never get any credit for whatever positive intentions he had because he is such a reprehensible human being."                        

Related:

• Timeline: Recent events in Iran
• Only reformist candidate drops out of race to be Iran's president
  
• Iran election primer: After Ahmadinejad, who will lead?

Campaigning in Iran's presidential election ended on Thursday, a day before Iranians head to the polls.

The field of candidates has been whittled down to five hardliners – and one moderate.

The next president is not expected to produce any major policy shift on Iran's disputed nuclear program since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls all the shots on big issues.

But Friday’s presidential election is the first in Iran since the disputed 2009 elections that set off the biggest protests the country has seen since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Reformists are urging voters not to boycott the vote in protest over the crackdown on dissent, but rather urging Iranians to exercise their rights and vote.

NBC News’ Tehran Correspondent Ali Arouzi answered reader questions about the election earlier today. Click on the link below to replay the informative chat. 

Related stories:

• Iranian GMail users targeted on eve of election, Google says
• Conservative pressure keeps Iran presidential campaign tame
• Iran bars two leading candidates from presidential election
• Iran election primer: After Ahmadinejad, who will lead?
• Analysis: Iran's Ahmadinejad will fight 'like Scarface' for his political future

Aamir Qureshi / AFP - Getty Images

New Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif faces daunting challenges at home and abroad.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's newly elected prime minister on Wednesday called on the United States to stop carrying out drone strikes on his country's soil.

"We respect the sovereignty of others, but others don't respect our sovereignty. These daily drone attacks must stop," Nawaz Sharif said in his maiden address to the 342-member National Assembly.

Sharif was sworn in Wednesday by President Asif Ali Zardari after his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party won a majority of seats in the assembly and its parliamentarians voted him into power as their leader.

"Building good relations with the U.S. based on mutual respect and interest" will be a top priority for Sharif, one of his senior aides said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not yet authorized to publicly address policies.

When asked how Sharif would try to persuade the U.S. to stop launching drone strikes, the aide said, "We will try to convince the U.S. that drones are doing no good to promote dialogue."

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Whatever his ambitions, Sharif is likely to be forced to "take a cautious line" on drone strikes, said Raza Rumi, director at the Jinnah Institute, a progressive Islamabad-based think tank.

"He is appeasing the popular outrage against drones and also keeping the imperatives of Pakistan's vital engagement with the U.S., and its commitment," Rumi said. "But as PM it would be difficult for Sharif to balance the two conflicting realities, and it would test his diplomatic and political skills."

Obama recently outlined changes to the drone program that would limit the cases in which strikes could be used.

But Sharif faces other daunting tasks. In addition to appeasing his countrymen without alienating a superpower, the new prime minister's "major challenge is the peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan," the senior aide said.

Additionally, he must manage relations with Pakistan's nuclear-armed neighbor and historical foe, India.

At home he faces a growing wave of militancy and extremism, an energy crisis and a perilous economy, as well as the need to maintain control of the nation's powerful military, with which he has a contentious history.

Sharif, embarking on an unprecedented third term as prime minister, was first elected in 1990 but was forced to resign in 1993 by the chief of the army over differences with the president. He was elected again in 1997, but his government was overthrown by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in October 1999.

Even if he manages those tasks, he will face powerful opposition within the General Assembly, though one fierce opponent said his party would be more inclined to back Sharif if he makes headway in stopping U.S. drone strikes.

"We will not be a friendly opposition," said Javed Hashmi of Imran Khan's Movement for Justice (PTI) party. "We will criticize and check this government if it works against the interests of Pakistan. But, one area where Mr. Nawaz Sharif can expect our support is in stopping the drone menace. If he makes a serious plan to restore our sovereignty and stop the drone attacks, then he will have our support."

Related:

• Pakistan struggles with power crisis
• Obama reframes counterterrorism policy with new rules on drones
• Taliban rejects peace talks after leader killed in drone strike

CAIRO — Egypt's highest court on Sunday ruled that the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament is unconstitutional — but allowed it to remain until future elections are held.

The decision ends the legal uncertainty hanging over the country’s political transition, but does little diffuse tension between the ruling Muslim Brotherhood and mostly secular opposition groups.

However, it illustrates the willingness of Egypt’s judiciary to challenge the Muslim Brotherhood on constitutional matters.

The upper house of parliament, known as the the Shura council, was elected as a consultative assembly with just a 7 percent voter turnout according to Reuters, and has angered the opposition by stirring up various controversies since it assumed legislative powers in December.

These include a new civil society law criticized by human rights groups and the West as a threat to democratic freedoms, and proposals for judicial reform that are fuelling tensions between judges and Islamists who see the judiciary as hostile.

The Supreme Constitutional Court decided the Shura council is illegal but that it should keep its lawmaking role until the main lower house can resolve similar legal questions over its status.

Those questions are unlikely to be answered except by a fresh round of elections, for which a date has yet to be set.

Gaber Nassar, constitutional law professor at Cairo University, said; “Whatever laws were issued before by the Shura council are legal but now the only thing the Shura council can now do is issue laws related to electing the new parliament.  The Shura will be dissolved as soon as new parliamentary elections are held.”

Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opponent of the Brotherhood, was quoted by Reuters as describing Sunday’s ruling as "an expected result of a low-level understanding and political thuggery that has toppled the concept of legitimacy and the rule of law."

Reuters contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Sun Jun 2, 2013 11:42 AM EDT

LAHORE, Pakistan - Center-right Pakistani politician Nawaz Sharif was set to return as his country's prime minister on Monday - his third time in the job - after voters defied deadly Taliban attacks to cast their ballots in record numbers. 

Sharif, who campaigned on restoring Pakistan’s weak economy, was in overnight meetings to form a new government, according to Sen. Pervez Rashid, a spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

Officials said turnout was over 60 percent, a record in a country where historically less than half of registered voters cast their ballots, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan, the national body tasked with holding elections.  

The election marked another watershed -- it was the first time in the country's 65-year history that a legislature has completed its term, paving the way for the possibility of a peaceful transition of power from one civilian government to the next.

While final election results had not been announced, preliminary results reported on local media appeared to give 63-year-old Sharif a resounding victory.

Sharif defeated telegenic former cricketer Imran Khan’s Movement for Justice party (PTI), who had been campaigning against older, more powerful parties like Sharif’s.  Khan was in a close fight for second place with the Pakistan People’s Party of president Asif Ali Zardari, which just ended its often-criticized rule in Pakistan after five years.

Khan, who was seriously injured in a fall on the eve of the elections, swore from his hospital bed that his party will form a strong opposition, while investigating alleged rigging.

Nevertheless, Fakhruddin Ebrahim, the country's chief election commissioner, congratulated the country on television for holding "historic and free" elections, though he did admit that there were irregularities in Karachi, Pakistan's largest and most violent city.

Protesters from different parties gathered in moderate numbers across the country, demanding an investigation by the election officials against poll rigging.  The Election Commission, in response, called a meeting for investigation rigging allegations for later Monday. 

Still, the mood in Pakistan seems upbeat, as the Karachi Stock Exchange just crossed record levels and breached the 20,000 point barrier.

Conciliatory tone
Sharif struck a conciliatory tone as results rolled in over the weekend.

"I appeal to all to come sit with me at the table so that this nation can get rid of this curse of power cuts, inflation and unemployment," Sharif said according to The Associated Press.

Sharif and his government will have their work cut out for them.  Pakistan suffers from a growing energy crisis, with some areas experiencing power outages for up to 18 hours a day. That has seriously hurt the economy, pushing growth below 4 percent a year.

Pakistan needs a growth rate of twice that to provide jobs for its expanding population of 180 million. They will also have to cope with spiraling violence.

The build up to the polls saw over a 100 people killed in militant attacks, and of Sharif's most urgent problems will be what to do about violent Islamic extremism throughout his country.  His party has been accused of being soft on radicals after not cracking down on violent groups in its stronghold of Punjab province.

The United States has pushed Pakistan for years to take stronger action against fighters whose who attack American troops across the border in Afghanistan.

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Once considered a protege of the country's powerful army, Sharif served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister in the 1990s before his relationship with the military deteriorated. He was ousted in a coup and replaced by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999, and exiled to Saudi Arabia.

Known to be a religious conservative personally, Sharif's first term in office was marked by efforts to increase the role of Islam in government, including trying to introduce Shariah law through parliament.

Pakistan also became a nuclear state during his second term in office. Sharif also built a reputation for launching large-scale, economic initiatives to spur development, including power, transportation, and technology projects.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

• Obama congratulates Pakistan for 'milestone' moment after successful elections
• The ex-cricket star vs. the comeback kid: Who will be nuclear-armed Pakistan's next leader?
• 9 more killed as Taliban attacks target secular campaigns in Pakistan

The son of former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was kidnapped at gunpoint during an election rally on Thursday, officials said.

Ali Haider Gilani, whose father was prime minister from 2008 to 2012, was seized by several armed men in Multan in central Pakistan. The Gilanis are members of the liberal PPP party.

Punjab government official Rao Iftikhar Ahmad told The Associated Press that one of Gilani's guards was killed and five people were wounded in the attack. The figures could not immediately be confirmed by NBC News.

"One of the gunmen grabbed Haider who had blood splashed on his trousers," witness Shehryar Ali told Pakistani television broadcaster Geo News. 

An intelligence official said that authorities were hunting "four to five kidnappers in a black car."

Fawad Hussein / EPA, file

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is seen here in 2011. His son was kidnapped on Thursday.

It was not immediately known who abducted Gilani or why.  The Pakistani Taliban has vowed to disrupt Saturday's election.

Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said that candidates, party leaders and activists would be attacked by dozens of suicide bombers and other fighters.

The militants have warned people to stay away from polling stations on the day of the vote and warned government officials not to carry out election duties.

Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, has written a letter to the Election Commission, demanding better security for liberal parties.

Since April, the Pakistani Taliban have killed more than 70 people in attacks targeting three major political parties, preventing many of their most prominent candidates from openly campaigning, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The Taliban say they are targeting "secular" parties and that elections only "serve the interests of infidels and enemies of Islam," the news service said. Right-wing religious parties that have joined the election race have been largely left alone by the militants.

On Tuesday, former cricket star Imran Khan, who is now the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was injured in a fall from a platform at an election rally.

Saturday's election will mark the first time in the country's 65-year history that a legislature has completed its term, paving the way for the possibility of a peaceful transition of power from one civilian government to the next.

NBC News' Mushtaq Yusufzai and Ian Johnston, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Related:

• Explosion kills at least 25 people at Islamist party election rally in Pakistan
• Prosecutor probing Pakistan ex-PM's assassination slain in 'targeted killing'
• Pakistani politician Imran Khan hurt in fall at political rally

Tomas Bravo / Reuters

Venezuelan presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores celebrate after the official results gave him a victory in the balloting, in Caracas on Sunday.

News Analysis 

CARACAS, Venezuela -- The late President Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, narrowly won Venezuela’s presidential election Sunday with just 50.7 percent of the vote, according to election board returns. 

The slim victory over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who won 49.1 percent of the vote, was a difference of just about 235,000 votes. 

Capriles has refused to accept the results, alleging incidences of fraud and voting intimidation at polling booths across the country. Instead of a concession speech, the popular 40-year-old governor demanded a recount. "We are talking about a small difference, a tiny difference," he said.  "We will not accept the results until all votes are counted, one by one." 

The Venezuelan government announced that Maduro would be formally proclaimed the winner by the election board at a ceremony and rally in Caracas on Monday afternoon -- despite Capriles' demands for a recount.

While Capriles has not called out for his supporters to take to the streets, a protracted election dispute would be difficult on the deeply divided country.

Whatever the final outcome, the next leader of Venezuela will inherit a country with the world's second largest oil reserves -- but also a nation plagued with problems including food shortages, inflation, corruption and crime. 

Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

Supporters of Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles react after the official results gave a victory to Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas on Sunday.

Empty shelves
"You have to walk all over town from supermarket to supermarket to find what you need," said Olivia Nunez, standing in front of empty shelves at the Magdalena supermarket in Caracas’ Chacao neighborhood. 

Sugar, rice, coffee, milk, cooking oil, chicken and even soap and toilet paper are hard to come by at grocery stores. 

Lifelong residents of the middle-class neighborhood say shortages were unheard of until Chavez took office 14 years ago. When supplies do arrive, neighbors call each other to share the news and rush to stand in lines that sometimes make checkout a two-hour process.

The reasons for the shortages are many. Government measures to enforce price controls have discouraged domestic production. So have government expropriations. Many farm owners hesitate to invest in crops, fearing the fate of neighbors whose land was seized under a Chavez program that grants parcels to low-income families. 

Erika Angulo/ NBC News

This sign tells shoppers in a Caracas grocery store on Sunday that they are restricted to just 4 kilograms of rice per customer.

Adding to the shortages, suppliers of foreign goods say, is the administration's decision to scale back the number of dollars importers can buy. They complain they can't access the necessary dollars to pay manufacturers abroad. 

‘I'm terrified’
Crime is rampant, with kidnappings, robberies and home invasions skyrocketing over the last decade. 

The U.S. State Department has warned travelers that crime in the country is "pervasive, both in the capital, Caracas, and the interior." Violent crimes, including murder, are also up.  Statistics gathered by the nongovernment group Venezuelan Violence Observatory show that for every 100,000 Caracas residents there are 122 murders per year. For comparison, the rate in New York City is 5.6 murders per 100,000 residents. 

Valeria Ardenko said she stopped going out after 8 p.m. after a nephew was mugged at gunpoint. "I used to love to go to the theater, but now I'm terrified," said the 71-year-old grandmother.  

Home invaders who never leave are another risk many Venezuelans face. In some instances, squatters move in while residents are away on vacation. Some 100 activists earlier this month seized dozens of condos and empty lots in Caracas. Police managed to turn back about 16 occupiers, but others remained. 

"We have a government that allows those who have been living in a hut to take over your home because they feel like it. And no one does anything to stop them," said homeowner Aide Solotucha. 

Chavez promoted a process of expropriation of lands and homes deemed unoccupied as a way to deal with the country's home shortage while his administration built public housing.

Still united by oil
Caracas-Washington relations soured during the Chavez regime, with the Venezuelan president frequently accusing the U.S. of interference, even alleging an assassination plot against him. Chavez simultaneously strengthened relations with Iran and Russia, ignoring the concerns of U.S. officials.  And both countries have expelled each other's diplomats.  

But there is still one tie that unites them: oil. 

"The oil trade relationship between Venezuela and the United States has been the source of stability between the two countries during what has been, without question, really rough political and diplomatic times," said Sarah Ladislaw of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 

Most energy expert say getting along with whoever ends up being sworn in as this OPEC country's leader will be to the advantage of the U.S. 

Related:

Venezuela divided: Recount demanded after razor thin victory by Chavez successor

Dramatic exit: Heads of state gather for Chavez's funeral

Chavez's last words: 'Please don't let me die,' general says

Full Venezuela coverage from NBC News

Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA

Former chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani, center, arrives at a conference in Tehran on Thursday where he announced his candidacy for the June presidential election. Rowhani is considered a moderate who could work with the West.

Hassan Rowhani, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator, announced on Thursday he would run for president - becoming the most moderate contender so far to bid to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a June election dominated by conservatives.

The 64-year-old was head of the powerful Supreme National Security Council under presidents Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, considered a master of realpolitik rather than an ideologue, and Mohammad Khatami, who pushed for wide-ranging social and political reforms.

Rowhani, a Muslim cleric, presided over talks with Britain, France and Germany that saw Iran agree to suspend uranium enrichment-related activities between 2003 and 2005.

He resigned after Ahmadinejad took office in August that year. The nuclear work was resumed and Rowhani was derided for being too accommodating in negotiations.

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During Ahmadinejad's two terms in office, tensions with the West over Iran's nuclear program have worsened, with the United States and Europe imposing sanctions on its oil and banks over suspicions Tehran is seeking atomic arms, which it denies.

"We need a new management for the country but not based on quarrelling, inconsistency and eroding domestic capacity, but through unity, consensus and attracting honest and efficient people," Rowhani told a gathering of supporters on Thursday, Iran's Mehr news agency reported.

A former Western ambassador to Iran who had dealings with Rowhani during the Khatami administration described him as "approachable and no-nonsense," likely to be "a calm, orthodox, efficient and straightforward servant ... and less a charismatic or an independent figure."

With nuclear policy directed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rather than the president, the election is not likely to produce any tangible policy shift there.

"My government will be one of prudence and hope and my message is about saving the economy, reviving ethics and interaction with the world," Rowhani said in a critique of Ahmadinejad's economic record.

Hooman Majd, a New York-based Iranian-American journalist and author, said Rowhani -- head of an Iranian think-tank, the Center for Strategic Research -- might attract some voters looking for change, without being radical enough to risk being banned from the election.

"Rowhani has been a loyal soldier of Khamenei and is not considered a threat to the system. I think it would be too much for the Guardian Council to disqualify someone like that," Majd said.

Khamenei's close advisers plan to put forward their own candidate, hoping to minimize the chances of the next president mounting challenges to the leader's authority, as they accuse Ahmadinejad of doing, especially during his second term.

Related:

After quake, Iran says it will build more reactors

Earthquake strikes near Iran's nuclear plant

Diplomat: Iran, West still 'a long way apart'