Iran | What Does Ebrahim Raissi Stand For?

Iran's new president looks like a revenant of the old one: another frowning, bearded man, another cleric. The new one is called Ebrahim Raissi , is 60 years old and a career civil servant, most recently head of the judiciary. In the elections, he got more than 60 percent of the vote. Raissi is a product of the ruling system through and through. But precisely his choice could change this system significantly: towards a totalitarian dictatorship.

Read more: The powerful Ayatholla Khamenei

Isn't that Iran long ago? The elections have never been free. Only those candidates are admitted who do not question the "Islamic Republic". And at the head of the state are not the president and the government, but the revolutionary leader, appointed for life. Within that framework, however, there was room for debate and competition. Those who were elected by the majority enjoyed a certain legitimacy. Only: this time not even half of the citizens went to the vote. The turnout was 48 percent, lower than ever. Raissi only won because all serious competitors were excluded as candidates.

Ebrahim Raissi had a long religious education. One of his early teachers was Ali Khamenei, who is now the leader of the revolution. Khamenei wanted Raissi as president because he is on the line. He presents himself as a fighter against the felt and sings the praises of the good old revolution. An Iranian honest man.

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But his choice breaks with political conventions. By being hoisted into office, the reformers were effectively excluded from power. The competition between archconservatives and innovators, which the Iranian regime has paradoxically held together, has been decided. With Raissi, the signs point to deterrence. He was once a member of the so-called death committee that had thousands of political prisoners executed in 1988. He was already head of justice when more than 300 people were shot dead in national protests in 2019. His supporters include the Revolutionary Guards, the military apparatus of the religious leader. The fact that they are making him president, against the will of the people, heralds the upheaval: from clerical rule to one in uniform.

Read more: An Iranian nuclear plant and the assassination of a nuclear scientist

What is changing for the west? Talks are ongoing in Vienna about re-entering the US into the nuclear agreement . The Biden administration wants to take back the sanctions that Trump imposed when he left the agreement. Iran is also calling for other restrictions to be removed. An agreement seemed to be in sight recently. Raissi spoke out in the election campaign for the nuclear agreement, on the terms of Iran. Western diplomats describe him as a man without scruples - with whom one could probably come to a deal. The question of whether Raissi himself will also be an issue becomes interesting: He has been on the US sanctions list since 2019 because of the political murders.

Read also: Attacked and killed the Iranian nuclear scientist after about eight months of surveillance

Raissi takes office in August. Maybe he won't stay president for long. He is considered a favorite to succeed the revolutionary leader Khamenei, who is 82 years old. Raissi belongs to the last generation that took part in the 1979 revolution. He should prevent a new one with all his might.

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