Ebrahim Raisi Announces Candidacy for Presidential Election

Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the Astan Quds Razavi, announced his candidacy for the presidential election in a statement emphasizing the need for 'change' in the current situation and 'saving the country.' He stated that he would run 'regardless of political groupings' and 'avoiding controversy and misuse of sacred values and public funds.' According to Tasnim News Agency, Raisi highlighted that in the fourth decade of the Islamic Republic, 'despite hopeful successes and advancements, chronic structural pains and incorrect management traditions continue to afflict the people and have rendered the government incapable of meeting the expectations of the people and achieving constitutional goals.' He claimed that 'with over two decades of managerial experience at a macro level' and 'supervision over various national structures and direct confrontation with existing corruption and deficiencies in organizations and executive bodies, he has gained awareness and insight into the roots of the country's issues and the people's predicaments' and 'deeply' believes that 'this situation can be changed.' Raisi previously held no high-level government managerial experience, having served in positions such as Deputy Chief Justice and Attorney General. In his statement on Sunday, he also mentioned that he 'has had no intention to seek power in the past three decades,' but due to the invitation from clerics and 'various segments of the people, intellectuals, and caring youth, he has found his national and revolutionary religious responsibility to run for the election.' Soulat Mortazavi, the mayor of Mashhad, announced on Thursday, April 6, at a meeting of the 'Popular Front of Revolutionary Forces' that Raisi would be a candidate in the presidential election. Meanwhile, Mortazavi's presence at this meeting representing Raisi has drawn criticism on social media, with some users questioning whether the Mashhad municipality is 'directly responsible for the earthquake around this city or Astan Quds Razavi?' In response to these criticisms, Mortazavi criticized the government of Hassan Rouhani, stating, 'They have criticized why Mortazavi went to Tehran; I ask, why did Rouhani go to Semnan?' Astan Quds Razavi, which Raisi has been in charge of for the past year, is one of the major financial institutions under the supervision of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. In recent weeks, the distribution of hundreds of tons of flour in Khuzestan province by this institution has been reported in the media, and some social media users and also Mahmoud Sadqi, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, have compared this action to the distribution of potatoes by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government before the 2009 presidential election campaign. Nevertheless, Raisi stated in his announcement that he would participate 'regardless of the usual political groupings and solely emphasizing adherence to law, ethics, fairness, honesty with the people, and avoiding controversy and misuse of sacred values and public funds in electoral competition.' He concluded his statement by emphasizing that 'saving the country from upcoming crises and restoring peace of mind to the people can only be achieved through a transformation in executive management, employing competent and trustworthy managers, and consciously moving based on comprehensive and all-encompassing program goals' that will be presented in the future. Ebrahim Raisi, who is a former judicial official, was previously a member of the decision-making committee for the executions of the 1980s, and Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri mentioned his role in a voice recording released a few months ago by his son Ahmad Montazeri. However, Raisi has not yet directly responded to this issue. In part of his statement on Sunday, Raisi stated, 'People ask why, despite all these abundant resources and a blessed land... the capacity of domestic entities is spent on neutralizing each other and destructive competition instead of synergizing to solve the country's issues? Can we not unlock the lock of stagnation, unemployment, and blockage in business and the social harms resulting from it?!' Other prominent conservative candidates have also criticized unemployment and stagnation in the country in recent weeks. Candidates from the 'Popular Front of Revolutionary Forces (Jemna)' severely criticized the performance of Hassan Rouhani's government at a meeting on Thursday, April 6. Alireza Zakani, one of the candidates at this meeting, accused Hassan Rouhani of 'leaving the hands of economic corruptors free.' Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, also stated in a message for this meeting that the continuation of this government would turn Iran into the second Sudan. On Saturday, April 19, Hassan Rouhani criticized the 'lies, destruction, and accusations' against his government in the lead-up to the presidential election, urging conservative candidates to pursue 'healthy competition' and speak about their 'merits' and programs. Meanwhile, Ali Jannati, former Minister of Culture in Rouhani's government and head of his campaign, commented on the increase in 'destruction' of the government by opponents, stating, 'We witnessed such a situation in 1997; despite all the destruction against Mr. Khatami, he received the highest vote.' He announced that Rouhani's campaign would respond to critics and opponents from the official start of the campaign. Jannati also criticized the performance of state television, saying, 'Whenever the people felt that state television intended to destroy and undermine a candidate, it acted completely contrary to that, so we are not worried about the media's destruction.' Majid Ansari, the legal deputy of the President of Iran, criticized on Saturday, April 19, that 'destroyers' of Hassan Rouhani are not being dealt with, while managers of reformist Telegram channels are being arrested, calling for 'equal treatment' from the judiciary regarding 'violations.' Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the government spokesman, also expressed doubt about state television's stance against official economic statistics through interviews with a number of people without providing numbers, calling it 'trivial' and stating that a 'special political team' in this institution is preparing 'calculated plans' to 'destroy' the government. Nobakht's comments came after the Supreme Leader expressed doubt about the government's statistics regarding the improvement of the country's economic situation and close allies of his severely attacked the government's economic performance. On Thursday, March 9, Ayatollah Khamenei, during a meeting with members of the Assembly of Experts, expressed doubt about the accuracy of the government's statistics regarding the improvement of people's economic conditions, stating that 'these do not affect the lives and livelihoods of the people in the short and medium term.' In the current month, and about two months before the presidential election, he has repeatedly criticized the government's performance in the economic sector and expressed doubt about the accuracy of the government's statistics. In recent weeks, Friday prayer leaders have also severely criticized the government's performance in the economic sector. Hours after Ayatollah Khamenei's Nowruz message, Hassan Rouhani, in a speech defending the government's performance, stated that 'even the next ten governments will not be able to solve all the problems,' but the government has chosen a 'correct' path that is heading towards reducing problems. Rouhani's government officials cite instances such as 11% economic growth and a single-digit inflation rate as evidence of improving the economic conditions of the people compared to the early days of this government. However, some analysts and media report that economic growth has not yet had a noticeable impact on the living conditions of the Iranian people and employment. In this context, Fereydoun Khavand, an economic analyst, wrote on Tuesday, March 14, in an analysis for Radio Farda that one of the most important reasons for the worsening labor market despite the increase in growth rates is the oil-based nature of the growth, and in fact, the activation of the oil industry and the increase in production and export of this commodity is not in itself job-creating.