Successor for Ruhani: Favorite Raeissi wins election in Iran


Successor to Ruhani
Favorite Raeissi wins election in Iran

After two terms in office, Iranian President Ruhani is not allowed to run again. There is a clear favorite for his successor even before the elections. The mullah Raeissi has now been confirmed as the new president.

Hardly anyone expects a surprise in the presidential election in Iran, and in fact there will be no surprise. Ebrahim Raeissi, the 60-year-old head of justice, is well ahead of his competitors after a majority of the votes have been counted, as a spokesman for the Interior Ministry announced. This puts him clearly ahead of the reformer Abdolnasser Hemmati, who has already admitted his defeat and congratulated Raeissi on his election victory. He hoped that Raeissi’s government, led by the spiritual and political leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would bring prosperity to Iran, the state media quoted in a letter from the former central bank chief to his adversary.

The arch-conservative judicial chief Raeissi was already considered a top favorite in advance. Hemmati were only given outsider opportunities, especially through protest votes. According to the Interior Ministry, the final result will be announced on Sunday. But if there is a clear trend in favor of Raeissis, he could already be confirmed on Saturday as the new president and successor to Hassan Ruhani. Ruhani himself was no longer allowed to run after two terms in office.

Raeissi was the top candidate of the hardliners and preferred president of the establishment. Four years ago he had failed because of Ruhani, but this time his way to the presidential office was much easier. The so-called Guardian Council, which, as an electoral body, sorted out serious competitors, made sure of that. This even led to violent protests within their own ranks – and to great disinterest on the part of the people in an election that was widely perceived as being staged and undemocratic.

Presumably conservative course

With Raeissi, the media and observers expect a change of political power in the country. They are convinced that the arch-conservative cleric would not continue the moderate course of Ruhani as president. As a long-time public prosecutor, judge and head of justice since 2019, he has little political experience. Yet he faces many political challenges.

First of all, he has to decide on the future of the Vienna nuclear agreement of 2015, which would also be the basic prerequisite for an economic crisis caused by the US sanctions. But this would require negotiations with the archenemy USA. In Middle East politics, observers under Raeissi expect a more radical course, and in relation to archenemy Israel an even more hostile one than before.

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