Google – AFP, 7 December 2013
Tehran —
The personal website of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has published pictures
of the cleric hiking in the mountains outside Tehran, his black turban replaced
by a baseball cap.
The photos,
which appeared on the website Friday, came as the recently elected leader has
sought to present a friendlier and more moderate image of the Islamic republic,
which reached a landmark nuclear deal with the West last month.
Hassan
Rouhani hikes in the Tochal
mountain, north of Tehran, on December
6, 2013
(Website of Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani/AFP, Hojat Sepahvand)
|
He is seen
mingling and chatting with other hikers, including a group of women, and posing
for a picture with the sun setting over Tehran in the background.
The website
said Rouhani -- who defeated a pool of conservatives in a June presidential
election after vowing to engage with the West -- goes hiking once or twice a
week.
Iran's
supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who must approve all major decisions and
who is seen as more distrustful of the West, is also fond of hiking, and state
media have published similar pictures of him in the past.
Iran and a
group of major powers broke through a decade of gridlock last month to agree on
an interim deal that would freeze parts of Iran's controversial nuclear
programme while easing some of the crippling international sanctions against
it.
The West
and Israel have long suspected Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons capability
alongside its civilian programme, a charge denied by Tehran.
Iran opens doors to tourists as Rouhani fosters thaw in relations with the west
Atomic inspectors arrive in Iran to see heavy water plant
Related Articles:
Iran opens doors to tourists as Rouhani fosters thaw in relations with the west
Atomic inspectors arrive in Iran to see heavy water plant
No comments:
Post a Comment