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Iranian Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi has announced that he will run in the June 18 presidential election.
Once denounced for his alleged involvement in mass executions of political prisoners in the 1980s, Raisi has revived himself as a populist, campaigning against corruption, talking to ordinary people about his court cases and traveling to provinces. private during the pandemic.
Raisi is seen as the main candidate, but will be challenged by pro-reform politicians on a list that will be revised by the Guardian Council, the hardline’s constitutional watchdog.
Before officially registering his candidacy for the interior ministry on Saturday, the 60-year-old cleric said the gradual changes in the country had not helped him achieve his goal of becoming a strong Iran.
“The outcome of the election should be a real development to return hope and enthusiasm to society,” he said. “In the near future, bitter feelings of injustice. . . it will become the sweet and desirable taste of the implementation of justice. ”
President Hassan Rouhani, a centrist politician who pledged to reach a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, will step down this summer after two terms.
Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the nuclear deal in 2018 and impose harsh sanctions on Iran dealt a severe blow to Rouhani and the pro-reformist forces that had backed his candidacy.
Reformers must win the support of Iranians who supported Rouhani in his 2017 defeat of Raisi, but who have said they will never vote again to protest the economic hardships caused by US sanctions and the US pandemic. coronavirus.
Many Iranians believe that having a tough president like Raisi as president would make no real difference, as pro and anti-reform politicians are equal.
First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri is the main reformist candidate. He acknowledged on Saturday that public confidence in governing institutions had waned and that many people no longer believed their votes could change.
He warned Iranians that the country’s situation was alarming and could worsen if they remained passive.
“I understand that many compatriots are upset by the misgovernment and have no hope in the elections,” he said. “We have no choice but to revive the polls.”
As a member of the outgoing government, Jahangiri is responsible for many Iranians, including business figures, their suffering and Rouhani’s poor economic history.
Ali Larijani, a 63-year-old centrist politician and former parliamentary speaker, is another of the top candidates who registered on Saturday morning. He is known internationally as Iran’s former nuclear negotiator.
Larijani supported the president of Iran during previous nuclear negotiations and his role in the legislature was crucial. By opposing the hard forces, he allowed Rouhani to pact with the world powers.
The biggest challenge of the election is the expected low turnout, which would be seen as a rejection of the Islamic republic.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Tuesday that his first priority was a high turnout that “would help increase the country’s deterrent power, give it security and credibility.”
Raisi, who is believed to be backed by Revolutionary Guard elites, could benefit from the boycott of pro-reform voters because he appeals to lower-middle-class Iranians who tend to vote in all elections and tend to favor populist politicians.
He is also close to the supreme leader and, as the highest judicial official, identifies with the focus on promoting domestic production rather than improving international relations.
Raisi, however, backed nuclear talks in Vienna and said he would pursue “smart and innovative diplomacy” and that he would not “lose a second to lift cruel sanctions” if elected.
The Guardian Council will announce the names of those authorized to run in the election before the three-week campaign that begins on May 28th.
Dozens of politicians and military have been registered. Most are expected to be banned.
The list includes Mostafa Tajzadeh, a former political prisoner who has broken political and social taboos by demanding an end to compulsory Islamic coverage for women and has challenged the absolute authority of the supreme leader.
Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran’s former president, who remains popular with the poor but has fallen short of the regime, registered his candidacy on Wednesday. He said he would not vote for any candidate if he was banned from running, an action that could weaken support for Raisi among the poorest segments of society.
Larijani said on Saturday that “the economic field is neither a garrison nor a court that is managed with orders,” clearly aimed at members of the guard, as well as Raisi and his anti-corruption campaign. “It’s naive to think that a couple of populist movements can help resolve it [Iran’s] problems “.
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