Ebrahim Raissi, the powerful head of the judicial authority of Tehran officially ran for the next presidential elections in Iran, scheduled for June 18. Thus in a recent speech: "I stand as an opponent of corruption, incompetence and the luxurious lifestyle of some leaders". Raïssi, 60, calls himself "independent," the Conservative Unity Council, which brings together most of the ultra-conservative groups and some of the traditional conservatives, have already promised him their support in early May.
The presidential candidates submitted their candidacy to the Ministry of Interior in Tehran between 11 and 15 May. The Council of Guardians of the Constitution, an unelected body headed by Ali Khamenei, is currently examining the nominations. Those judged to be against Islam and the Islamic Republic will be excluded. Among the conservatives, in addition to Ebrahim Raïssi (who in 2017 obtained 16 million votes, or 38%), other candidates have also signed up, including many members of the Revolutionary Guards. This is the case of the former defense minister Hossein Dehghan and the former chief nuclear negotiator Said Jalili. Among the most moderate and supporters of détente with the international community are the leaders of the parliament Ali Larijani and the current vice president Eshagh Jahangiri. For the moment, no one is provoking the enthusiasm of the voters of the liberal bourgeoisie and ethnic and religious minorities, who form the main electoral base of the reformers and of President Hassan Rouhani, architect of the 2015 nuclear deal. This base is now very disappointed. from the results of the government, both economically and socially, and can be tempted by abstention. In this context, explains a political analyst from Tehran, who prefers to remain anonymous, "Participation is likely to be very low, which will favor the election of Ebrahim Raïssi as the next president of the Islamic Republic".
Since the 1919 revolution, Ebrahim Raïssi, a native of Mashhad, a city in the east of the country, has spent the vast majority of his career in the judicial system, rapidly rising through the ranks. He started as a speaker at the court of the small town of Karaj, thirty kilometers from Tehran, and became the prosecutor of Tehran, before assuming the post of first deputy of the chief of justice, then that of prosecutor of the powerful special court for the clergy. Ebrahim Raissi intervened in major cases of serious human rights violations in Iran. After the end of the Iran-Iraq war, he served on a committee that sentenced several thousand political prisoners to death after summary trials. In 2009, after the fierce crackdown on protesters against the controversial re-election of ultra-conservative former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Raïssi, then first deputy head of justice, was tasked with handling complaints of ill-treatment in prisons.
Raïssi, the man with the black turban, a sign of his belonging to the lineage of the Prophet, enjoys the support of the Supreme Guide. In 2016 he was appointed head of the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth Shiite imam of Mashhad, and of the very rich Astan Quds Razavi foundation. During these three years, the foundation's help to the poorest has been widely covered by the media and social networks close to Raïssi.
Ebrahim Raïssi has also placed the mission of fighting corruption at the center of his judicial activity, in particular by organizing trials of high-ranking officials of the judicial system, accused of taking bribes. The chief of justice Raïssi could aspire to the succession of the Supreme Leader ali Khamenei who is now 82 years old.
"Ebrahim Raïssi is a member of the clergy and a descendant of the Prophet", said Iranian religious scholar and political analyst Mohammad Javad Akbareyn, who lives in France. For fourteen years, Raïssi was also the disciple of ali Khamenei, just as the latter was a student of Ruhollah Khomeyni, the founder of the Islamic Republic.