Rouhani, Hassan (1948-…), served as president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. Rouhani, a moderate cleric (clergyman), replaced conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had been in office since 2005. Rouhani had often been critical of Ahmadinejad’s policies, and he pledged a number of political reforms as president. Rouhani is an adopted name meaning cleric in the Farsi language (also called Persian). The name is sometimes spelled Rowhani or Rohani.
Rouhani was born Hassan Feridon on Nov. 12, 1948, in the small northern Iranian city of Sorkheh. He began studying religion at a young age. In 1961, he entered the Qom Seminary, a center for Shī`ah scholarship. Shī`ah is a division of the Islamic religion. In 1972, Rouhani graduated from the University of Tehran with a B.A. degree in judicial law. He later earned a Ph.D. in constitutional law from Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland.
In 1977, Rouhani was forced into exile after expressing criticism of the shah (king) of Iran. He returned to Iran after the overthrow of the shah and establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979.
During the late 1900’s and early 2000’s, Rouhani held a number of high-ranking positions in the Iranian government. He served as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and as a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly—the Majlis. The Majlis serves as the main legislative body of Iran’s government. He has been a member of the Assembly of Experts since 1999. The Assembly of Experts prepares any changes to Iran’s Constitution.
From 2003 to 2005, Rouhani worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency, an international organization, on issues surrounding Iran’s developing nuclear program. Rouhani won an election for Iran’s presidency in June 2013. He took office in August. Voters reelected Rouhani in May 2017. Because Iran’s Constitution limits the president to two terms in office, Rouhani did not run for election in 2021. Voters elected the hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi president.
Rouhani is a mujtahid—that is, a scholar qualified to interpret religious law. Aside from his native Farsi, Rouhani speaks Arabic and English.
