Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who engineered the country’s landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, registered on Friday to run for a second four-year term in the May election, state television reported.
“Once again, I am here for Iran, for Islam, for freedom and for more stability in this country. I am urging all Iranians to vote for Iran and for Islam,” Rouhani told reporters.
He won the election by a landslide in 2013 on a platform of ending the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic isolation and creating a freer society, but faces a stiff challenge from conservative hardliners because of discontent over the economy.
Influential Shiite cleric Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of a powerful organization in charge of Iran’s holiest shrine, appears to be the leading hard-line candidate.

Source: Arab News