Tag Archives: Enlarge this imageSupporters of Iranian ultraconservative presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi carry posters bearing his portrait and wave national flags as they attend a rally in the capital Tehran

Enlarge this imageSupporters of Iranian ultraconservative presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi carry posters bearing his portrait and wave national flags as they attend a rally in the capital Tehran, on Wednesday, ahead of the presidential election on Friday. The field of candidates in Iran’s presidential election thinned today, two days before the vote in which a victory by Raisi is widely predicted.Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Imageshide captiontoggle captionAtta Kenare/AFP via Getty ImagesSupporters of Iranian ultraconservative presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi carry posters bearing his portrait and wave national flags as they attend a rally in the capital Tehran, on Wednesday, ahead of the presidential election on Friday. The field of candidates in Iran’s presidential election thinned today, two days before the vote in which a victory by Raisi is widely predicted.Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty ImagesIran is holding a presidential election on Friday. A hard-liner close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is widely predicted to win, with an exceptionally low voter turnout. The vote comes at a cro sroads for the country of about 85 million people. World powers are trying to revive the Iran nuclear deal by bringing Iran and the United States back into compliance. Progre s there could reinstate limits on Iran’s nuclear program while giving the country acce s to global markets that its economy needs. President Ha san Rouhani by law cannot run for a third consecutive term. His succe sor will have a heavy to-do list. Iran is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, and an economic crisis that’s generally blamed on a combination of mismanagement and U.S. sanctions reimposed after the Trump administration abandoned the nuclear deal.Here is a look at some of the Francisco Liriano Jersey candidates and i sues to watch in the upcoming election:Enlarge this imageThis combination of four photos shows candidates for the Iranian presidential election on Friday. From left to right: Abdolna ser Hemmati, Mohsen Rezaei, Amir Ho sein Ghazizadeh Hashemi and Ebrahim Raisi.APhide captiontoggle captionAPThis combination of four photos shows Jimmy Wynn Jersey candidates for the Iranian presidential election on Friday. From left to right: Abdolna ser Hemmati, Mohsen Rezaei, Amir Ho sein Ghazizadeh Hashemi and Ebrahim Raisi.APWho is running for president of Iran? There are four candidates, but one expected winner: Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian judiciary chief. The state-linked Iranian Students’ Polling Agency said on Wednesday that Raisi is favored to win about 64% of the vote. The other candidates are Abdolna ser Hemmati, former governor of Iran’s Central Bank; Mohsen Rezaei, former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and deputy speaker of parliament Amir Ho sein Ghazizadeh Hashemi.As The A sociated Pre s puts it, Iran’s political spectrum includes hard-liners who seek to expand the country’s nuclear program and its power in the world, moderates who generally want to maintain the status quo, and reformists who want to change the theocracy. Even though there’s voting in Iran, activists who oppose the Islamic Republic’s rulers say there aren’t free and fair elections and some view voting as a way to push for progre s.In the weeks leading up to Friday’s election, the Guardian Council approved just seven candidates out of a field of nearly 600 registered, disqualifying many more moderate contenders and dozens of women registered to run. Critics said the move was a form of ballot manipulation to secure a hard-line presidency. Three candidates have dropped out of the race this week.Enlarge this imageIranian presidential candidate Abdolna ser Hemmati (left) speaks as Ebrahim Raisi listens in the candidates’ final debate at a state-run TV studio in Tehran, Iran, Blank Jersey on June 12.Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/Young Journalists Club via APhide captiontoggle captionMorteza Fakhri Nezhad/Young Journalists Club via APIranian presidential candidate Abdolna ser Hemmati (left) speaks as Ebrahim Raisi listens in the candidates’ final debate at a state-run TV studio in Tehran, Iran, on June 12.Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/Young Journalists Club via APWhat’s known about the leading candidate, Ebrahim Raisi? Raisi is a 60-year-old Shiite Muslim cleric with close ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. He ran for president previously and lost to Rouhani in 2017. Two years later, Khamenei appointed Raisi to head the judiciary. Analyst and president of Eurasia Group Ian Bremmer writes in Time: “Raisi can fairly be described as a ‘hardliner,’ one of those Iranian officials who is openly hostile to the idea of deeper engagement with Western governments and who favors the strict application of Islamic law at the expense of personal freedom.” The U.S. Treasury sanctioned him in 2019, saying: “Raisi was involved in the regime’s brutal crackdown on Iran’s Green Movement protests that followed the chaotic and disorderly 2009 election. Previously, as deputy prosecutor general of Tehran, Raisi participated in a so-called ‘death commi sion’ that ordered the extrajudicial executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.” Enlarge this imageA supporter of presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi shows her hand with writing in Persian that reads “Raisi,” during a rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday. He is the country’s hard-line judiciary chief and is closely aligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Ebrahim Noroozi/APhide captiontoggle captionEbrahim Noroozi/APA supporter of presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi shows her hand with writing in Persian that reads “Raisi,” during a rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday. He is the country’s hard-line judiciary chief and is closely aligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Ebrahim Noroozi/APWhat’s the mood around the election? Many voters are disillusioned with politics, and some in the opposition as well as di sidents at home and abroad have called to boycott the vote. The Iranian Students’ Polling Agency projected just 42% of the country’s 59 million eligible voters will cast ballots, which would be a historic low for the country, the AP reported.Middle EastFrom The Streets Of Tehran: Iranians’ Thoughts Ahead Of Friday’s Vote For PresidentFrom The Streets Of Tehran: Iranians’ Thoughts Ahead Of Friday’s Vote For President Listen 2:472:47 Toggle more optionsDownloadEmbedEmbed”>Transcript The “Biden administration is logically holding its breath and are deciding how it needs to react to the outcome of the Iranian election and whether there is going to be really ma sive change in Iran’s position which, frankly, I do not expect,” says Boroujerdi of Virginia Tech. Khamenei supports the Carlos Correa Jersey talks to reenter the nuclear deal and officials in Tehran expect to reach an agreement before the next president takes office in August, according to CFR. In the final presidential debate on June 12, the former Central Bank chief Hemmati said “Mr. Raisi, you and your friends have played in Trump’s ground with your extremist policies.” Raisi a sured viewers he would bring Iran back to the nuclear deal. But he told Hemmati: The deal “would not be executed by you, it needs a powerful government to do this.”