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Ebrahim Raisi, a conservative clergyman, aimed to win a landslide victory in Iran’s presidential election, giving the hardest regimes complete control over all branches of the state for nearly a decade.
Raisirenak the two main rivals admitted on Saturday and congratulated the 60-year-old man, who many believe is a favorable candidate for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s top leader.
The official results of Friday’s vote came when he ran against conservative general Raisi Mohsen Rezaei and the only reformist candidate. Abdolnaser Hemmati, were expected later on Saturday.
The clergyman’s victory means that the hard lines that led to a broad majority in last year’s parliamentary elections and controlled by the judiciary and the military are the strongest since 2013. .
The elections were held at a critical time for the Islamic Republic and the region. The Biden administration wants to ease tensions in the Middle East, fueled by the 2018 decision by Donald Trump to unilaterally withdraw from the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran and impose sanctions on the nation.
Raisi said his government would continue to negotiate with the other signatories to the agreement – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China.
But the tougher ones want to negotiate on their terms as the second and final term of the centrist government of President Hassan Rouhani ends in August. With the election of Raisi, who has led the judiciary for the past two years, and who has been punished by the Trump administration in 2019 for leading eleven regime officials, there is a risk that these talks will be complicated.
Raisi’s victory also means that Iran will find it harder to support pro-militant groups across the region or reduce its extensive missile program.
President Joe Biden has promised to rejoin the nuclear deal if Tehran fully complies with the agreement again. But his administration is being pressured by U.S. politicians, Israel and Arab partners in Washington to make it hard for Iran to support the militias and its missile program.
Raisi said domestic policies will be his priority. It has a tremendous role to play in reviving the economy caused by sanctions and the pandemic of the coronavirus, with severe social pressure and a deep sense of disillusionment with the theocratic system among many Iranians.
The schism of the society was underscored by the low turnout expected for the presidential election.
Iranian media reported that the Conservatives had voted in large numbers. But Iranians who wanted reforms showed disillusionment with the theocratic system, which pro-democracy activists described as an act of civil disobedience.
With low turnout, it would undermine the popular legitimacy that Iranian leaders want to claim from the elections at a time when the gap between the regime’s ideology and policies and the intentions of the youth population is widening.
Conservative analysts said Raisi would probably be closer to Khamenei’s thinking than Rouhani, who wanted to use the nuclear deal to re-engage with the West before Trump put his “maximum pressure” on the campaign.
Unlike his predecessors, Raisi will not try to diminish the role of the dominant Revolutionary Guards. foreign military operations and controlled the vast economic empire at home.
“In the judiciary, Raisi tells us that he has a background in his subordinates, but he is very strict with his juniors,” said one reformist politician.
“A good two years of justice is like a period of pink engagement. From now on, it happens after a marriage that matches all realities and disappointments.”
Raisi has made few comments on foreign policy and said his focus will be on boosting Iranian industrial production and easing economic pressure on Iranians.
Conservatives hope it will bring unity to the ruling system after Rouhani’s last term erupted including fierce clashes. Trump’s hostility to Iran has been hardened by accusing the centrist government and its reformist allies of trusting the U.S..
But reformers are worried that hard-won victories will exacerbate the country’s problems and gradually push back long hopes for reform.
“Reformists need to prepare for a tough political era. . . and not to submit to this result, ”said reformist commentary Abbas Abdi.
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