The head of Iran’s Expediency Council said on Monday July 29 that he is confident Hassan Rohani can satisfy the people’s demands, so long as he is supported by all branches of government.

Emphasizing his close knowledge of the president-elect, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani said: “If they allow him, with the collaboration of the other branches of government, he will be able to provide a worthy response to the confidence and hopes of the people.”

The moderate cleric went on to add: “With appropriate domestic and international policies, it will be possible to clear the way for the country to leap forward and make up the ground it has lost in recent years.”

Speaking to a group of MPs on Monday, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani said the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had declared on election day that “The people’s vote is their right!” Hashemi stressed that this was more than a perfunctory statement made simply for the occasion; he called it a fact that must be kept in mind at all levels of government at all times.

Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani was disqualified from running in the election, but at the eleventh hour he and the reformist groups threw their support behind Hassan Rohani, who ended up winning over fifty percent of the vote.

Rohani won on a platform of moderation in domestic and international policies.
(Radio Zamaneh)