Brussels 06.08.2021 The inauguration of Ebrahim Raisi as President of Iran signifies that from now onward the conservative control all branches of the Islamic Republic’s government and they intended to pursue a harder line in foreign and domestic policies.
Raisi, a former chief of the Iranian judiciary and a close ally of the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, won a low-turnout election that had been arranged to prevent any credible opponent from running.
New President is perceived as Khamenei’s choice to succeed him as Supreme leader in a political system where a small group of Shiite clerics hold the ultimate power.
A list leaked to Iranian media indicates that key posts in Raisi’s cabinet will be offered to men with deep ties to the intelligence and security apparatus.
The political activists have warned that given his track record in the judiciary, which has jailed and executed dissidents, journalists and lawyers, they expect even more state oppression under the new administration.
“Raisi’s presidency is very much the rise and dominance of the military and security branch of the Islamic Republic and the retreat of the technocrats and moderate voices,” said Nader Hashemi, the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver.
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