Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani plans to run for next term in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for May 19, 2017.

President Hassan Rouhani has decided to run for re-election in May, IRNA reported referring to Vice-President for Parliamentary Affairs Hosseinali Amiri

“In recent weeks, Mr Rouhani has reached a conclusion to take part in the presidential elections,” he told reporters.

President Rouhani won the 2013 presidential election, and if reelected, this will be his second term in office.

Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate who has pushed for greater social freedoms and improved ties with the West, has been widely expected to run for a second term but has yet to formally announce his candidature.

He remains popular for stabilizing the economy and ending sanctions through a nuclear deal with world powers. After lifting the sanctions, Rouhani visited a number of European states and made deals that worth billions of dollars. European companies started looking for investment opportunities in the growing Iranian market.

Many Iranians, however, consider the benefits have yet to trickle down to them and any profits could be at risk due to President Donald Trump’s dislike of the deal as well as U.S. strained dialogue with the Islamic Republic.

Last October, Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said that the president intends to participate in presidential elections in 2017. The minister said that registration of candidates will take place from April 10-14, the election campaign officially will begin on April 27 and will last until May 16.

Fars News Agency reported earlier that a former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has no plans to run for the presidential elections next year.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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