TEHRAN Three days before the presidentialelection, moderates and reformists in Iran are coalescing behind Hassan Rouhani, a cleric and former nuclear negotiator, as their best hope of staving off a field of divided conservatives, who had been seen as having the upper hand in the race. Among those endorsing Rouhani are two former presidents, including ...

On Tuesday, after days of bargaining and manoeuvres notably the interventions of former Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hashemi Rafsanjani the announcements finally came: moderates and reformists would unite behind a single candidate, Hassan Rouhani, in Fridays first round of the Iranian Presidential election. Rouhani, a senior official in the Expediency ...

[caption id="attachment_32290" align="alignright" width="210"] Reformist presidential candidate bids farewell to a group of his supporters in the central city of Isfahan on June 9, 2013.[/caption] Mohammad Reza Aref has withdrawn his candidacy from Irans June 14 presidential election in order to give the reformist camp a better chance to win. The ...