Rohani wins Iran's presidential election
**Rohani wins Iran's presidential election-Jun. 15, 2013- In Iran, Hassan Rohani, backed by reformists and moderates, won Friday's presidential election with a wide lead over hard-line conservative candidates.Iran's Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that Rohani garnered more than 18.6 million votes. That's 50.7 percent of all the valid votes, and more than the 50 percent he needed to avoid a run-off.He was followed by Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a hard-line conservative, who took about 16 percent of the votes.Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, also a hard-line conservative, lagged behind with 11 percent.The voter turnout was 72.7 percent.President-elect Hassan Rohani, 64 years old, is known as a moderate conservative. He has been stressing the need to improve ties with Western nations, and is backed by both moderate and reformists groups.Rohani served as the country's chief nuclear negotiator under former President Mohammed Khatami, and adopted a flexible stance toward the Western nations.Rohani has achieved a landslide victory at a time when Iran's economy suffers from international sanctions over the country's nuclear development program.Attention is focused on whether Iran will shift its position toward improving ties with the United States and Europe, and start making concessions on nuclear and Syrian issues under Rohani.*-*