Iran President Hassan Rouhani to seek second term

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Rouhani, a moderate cleric, also said that if he is elected to a second term, he will continue a practice of being transparent with the Iranian people.

"In every aspect that you consider, figures tell us that after the (nuclear deal), there is more space for movement and progress", he told reporters last week.

But disappointment with the 68-year-old's administration is palpable on the streets of Iran. Iran's economy suffered under heavy global sanctions during his administration because of Western suspicions that Tehran was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons.

"He has no experience in foreign policy, so at least initially he will have to follow the system's grand strategy of preserving the nuclear deal and shifting any blame of undermining it to the U.S.", said International Crisis Group Iran analyst Ali Vaez. "A woman can not put up a good war face".

He said he would announce detailed economic policies at a later date.

That follows government plans, outlined this week, to triple or even quadruple cash hand-outs to the poor - a move immediately criticised by opponents as a transparent attempt to buy votes. That's not to say it will be easy for Rouhani.

Many remaining unilateral USA sanctions, have hindered the foreign investment that could fuel an economic recovery. "Buying planes is good, but how many Iranians can afford to fly to Paris?"

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The ONE important asset that every President depends on is the faith and trust of the American people. After all Russian bad boy Vladimir Putin has been getting away with overt provocation for too long.

"The problem about the nuclear deal is how they advertised it".

"He inherited a bad situation, but he created so much expectation and nothing has changed for the guy on the street".

Influential Shia cleric Ebrahim Raisi, an ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appears to be the leading hardline candidate so far.

A large number of conservatives appear to throw their full support behind Raisi who now holds the position of the custodian of a wealthy charity and the organization in charge of the holiest Shia shrine of Iran based in the city of Mashhad.

In March 2016, he was appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to head Astan Qods Razavi, a charitable foundation overseeing the Imam Reza shrine, as well as a huge business conglomerate with interests in everything from IT and banking to construction and agriculture. Former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who ignored the supreme leader's warning that his candidacy could expose lingering wounds from the unrest surrounding his contested 2009 re-election, registered.

The two main rivals in the race are widely expected to be President Hassan Rouhani, and Ebrahim Raeesi.

Most of the analysts believe that Rouhani, Raisi and Ahmadinejad will be the three major candidates with political weight and ideological reflection, whose competition can heat up the furnace of election in Iran next month.

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