Iran’s hardline conservative judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi was elected as the country’s new President in a landslide victory on Saturday, with a voter turnout recorded at around 49%, the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic.
Iranian state media Fars News reported that around 28 million of the 59 million eligible voters cast their votes for the country’s 13th presidential election on Friday. Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli stated that Raisi received 17.9 million votes, nearly 62% of the votes cast, dwarfing the second-highest tally of around 3.4 million votes received by the former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohsen Rezaei.
Speaking to reporters, Raisi said his government would make all possible efforts to solve the country’s problems, particularly the living problems of Iranians. He added that he would use the experiences of the incumbent government of President Hassan Rouhani and vowed to consult experts to form a government aimed at maintaining the trust of the Iranian people. “I will use the experiences, opinions, reports, and views of esteemed officials,” Raisi said, calling on “all experts and thinkers to inform us of their views and opinion.”
Outgoing President Rouhani offered his “sincerest congratulations” to the President-elect, saying that he hoped the new government would “conduct effective actions for the country’s progress, prosperity and people’s peace and welfare.” Rouhani added that Raisi was “fully aware of the situation in the country due to his responsibilities in the judiciary” and expressed his confidence that Raisi would be a president for all Iranians.
Rouhani said his government was ready to cooperate to ensure a smooth transfer of power. “In the coming days, at any time, members of the government are ready to cooperate so that the transition period goes well and the president-elect can prepare his cabinet by the end of the term and work with a vote of confidence from the parliament,” he said.
The country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hailed the vote, saying that the “great winner of yesterday’s election is the Iranian Nation, who showed its presence in the heart of the country’s political arena.” Khamenei added, “The spectacular scenes of your [Iranians] attendance in polling stations across the country were a clear sign of your firm determination, the hopefulness of your hearts, and your expanded insight.”
Also Read: Supreme Leader Khamenei Urges Massive Turnout As Iran Set to Vote Friday
Despite the Supreme Leader’s claims of a significant presence of voters, the 49% turnout was the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled Iran’s former Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and established the new Islamic Republic in the country.
Many Iranians called for boycotting the presidential election after Iran’s 12-member Guardian Council barred all reformist candidates in May. As per reports, the Council’s decision meant to favour Khamenei’s preferred candidate, Ebrahim Raisi, as the next President. It would give Khamenei a greater grip on power and provide him with the ability to influence Iranian policies in the new government.
Iranians have also expressed frustrations over the country’s state of affairs and the nature of the elections. Iran is facing an economic crisis, especially in the wake of crippling economic sanctions imposed on it by the United States and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Rising food prices, unemployment numbers, and poverty levels have left many Iranians in despair.
Reacting to the results, a United States (US) State Department spokesperson said the Iranian election was not a fair one. “We have seen that the Iranian Interior Minister announced Ebrahim Raisi as the winner of the Iranian elections held on Friday, but also make note that they were denied the right to choose their leaders in a free and fair electoral process,” the spokesperson told Sputnik News on Sunday, adding that the US would continue to “advance” its interests in Iran regardless of who is in power.
The harshest reaction to Raisi’s victory came from Iran’s arch-foe Israel. While Israel has already expressed concerns over the dangers of Iran’s nuclear programme, it warned on Sunday that Raisi’s election was “the last chance for the world powers to wake up before returning to the nuclear agreement.” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stressed that the Islamic Republic “must never be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction,” which would enable it to kill millions. “Of all the people that Khamenei could have chosen, he chose the ‘Hangman of Tehran,’ the man infamous among Iranians and across the world for leading the Death Committees, which executed thousands of innocent Iranian citizens throughout the years,” Bennett said.
However, congratulations for Raisi poured in from leaders of countries like Syria, Turkey, Russia, Pakistan, Iraq, and India. Raisi’s victory was also welcomed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Gazan militant group Hamas.
Raisi is infamous for his role in the mass execution of around 30,000 Iranian political prisoners in 1988. Human rights watchdog Amnesty International reiterates that Raisi must be investigated for crimes against humanity. “That Ebrahim Raisi has risen to the presidency instead of being investigated for the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance and torture, is a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran,” Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said on Saturday. She also mentioned that under Raisi’s watch, the judiciary was responsible for granting “blanket impunity” to the government despite it killing hundreds of men, women, and children.
Raisi’s election as the leader could make the ongoing Vienna talks to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal more complicated when he is expected to take office on August 3. While the fifth round of talks is already over, little has been achieved on paper. Experts fear that Raisi’s government would prove to impede restoring the deal. Iran project director at the Crisis Group, Ali Vaez, told the Times of Israel that there is no guarantee that the nuclear deal will be restored by August. If that happens, there “will be a need for an entirely new agreement, which is going to be extremely difficult” with Raisi in charge.
The Associated Press reported that since Iranian presidents can serve for two four-year terms, Raisi could still be President in the event of the death of the Supreme Leader. There have been numerous speculations that Khamenei, 82, is considering Raisi as his potential successor.