TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s former top nuclear negotiator, a candidate in next week’s presidential elections, vowed Saturday he will reset the country’s economy and reverse President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s foreign policy stance if elected.
Addressing a campaign rally in Tehran, Hasan Rowhani said his priority in foreign policy would be to “reconcile” with the outside world and distance Iran from Ahmadinejad’s combative, hard-line style.
Iran’s president does not have control of central issues like nuclear policy, but a president who has a close relationship with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei can wield influence.
Rowhani blamed Ahmadinejad for Iran’s ailing economy, saying his mismanagement and hard-line policies brought punishing sanctions for Iran.
Rowhani is one of eight candidates approved by the Guardian Council, Iran’s election overseers, to run in the June 14 race to pick a successor to Ahmadinejad.
“We won’t let the past eight years be continued. They brought sanctions for the country. Yet, they are proud of it,” he told a cheering crowd. “I’ll pursue a policy of reconciliation and peace. We will also reconcile with the world.”
Iran is living under U.N. sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Oil and banking sanctions have deeply cut Iran’s revenues.
Rowhani’s main rivals are conservatives backed by hardline clerics, including top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati.
