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Hassan Rouhani
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Hassan Rouhani

President of Iran from 2013 to 2021 who secured the 2015 nuclear deal.

Masoud Pezeshkian said on 2 November 2026 that The Supreme Leader had let his government seek a deal through dialogue. Hassan Rouhani held that kind of licence a generation earlier, and used it to open the nuclear talks of 2013.

Last refreshed: 8 November 2026

Timeline for Hassan Rouhani

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Background

Hassan Rouhani served two terms as Iran's president, from 3 August 2013 to 3 August 2021. On 17 September 2013 Ali Khamenei told Revolutionary Guard commanders he backed "heroic flexibility" in diplomacy, and Rouhani's negotiators reached an interim nuclear agreement in Geneva that November. His government then concluded the 2015 nuclear deal. The Guard answered to Khamenei rather than to the president, and its missile tests went ahead after the deal was signed.

His career before the presidency ran through the security establishment. He was Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005 and became chief nuclear negotiator in 2003, when he agreed an enrichment suspension with Britain, France and Germany. Hardline MPs attacked that concession, and Ali Larijani took over the council in 2005.

Rouhani's record marks the outer limit of presidential diplomacy in the Islamic Republic: he could negotiate only as far as Khamenei permitted, and he could not bind the Guard to what he signed. His 2003 experience was repeated in June 2026, when around 60 Majlis members demanded that speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf explain his signature on the Islamabad memorandum.

Common Questions
When was Hassan Rouhani president of Iran?
From 3 August 2013 to 3 August 2021, across two terms.Source: Wikipedia
What did Hassan Rouhani do before he became president?
He was Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005 and chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005.Source: Wikipedia
What was Khamenei's heroic flexibility speech?
On 17 September 2013 Ali Khamenei told IRGC commanders he backed heroic flexibility in diplomacy, giving Rouhani's team licence to negotiate before the November 2013 interim nuclear deal.Source:
Why could Hassan Rouhani not stop Iran's missile tests?
The Revolutionary Guard answered to The Supreme Leader, not the president, so its missile tests went ahead after the 2015 nuclear deal.Source:
Source Material
Hassan Rouhani portrait, April 2013Hassan Rouhani

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 8 November 2026. Editorial standards.