Iran’s president-elect tries to shape pro-business government

With just weeks to go before his inauguration as president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani has been deploying his extensive connections within Tehran’s business and political elites. As a special appointments committee works on the cabinet list, Rouhani – due to be inaugurated in early August – has been seeking to bring together a clutch of effective administrators disposed to delivering economic gains, rather than focusing on anti-western gesture politics. He is keen to put distance between himself and current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.