Ebrahim Raisi, Custodian of Astan Quds, Moves Closer to Final Nomination of Principlists

The second assembly of the "Popular Front of Islamic Revolutionary Forces" known as "Jemna," which is one of the most widespread principlist organizations, selected five primary candidates for the upcoming presidential elections in Iran on Thursday, April 6. Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, is at the top of the list. According to the Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards and widely covers this political group, in this voting, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi received 2,147 votes, Alireza Zakani 1,546 votes, Mehrdad Bazrpash 1,404 votes, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf 1,373 votes, and Parviz Fattah 994 votes. Reports indicate that Saeed Jalili, a member of the Supreme National Security Council, has been excluded from this group's list because he did not sign the Jemna covenant. Mostafa Mir-Salim, the exclusive candidate of the Islamic Coalition Party, also failed to make it into the top five of the mentioned list. It seems that some principlist candidates may enter the elections independently. Ebrahim Raisi is not yet the final candidate of the Popular Front of Islamic Revolutionary Forces in the elections, but given the extensive news coverage about him and the withdrawal of other prominent candidates such as Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, it is highly likely that he will be the final candidate for many principlist organizations. Soulat Mortazavi, the mayor of Mashhad, who represented Mr. Raisi at the "Jemna" assembly, stated that the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi will run in the presidential elections. Mohammad Hassan Rahimian, the head of the "Popular Front of Islamic Revolutionary Forces," also mentioned that Mr. Raisi was supposed to attend the meeting on Thursday, but he canceled due to an earthquake in Razavi Khorasan. Hossein Ali Hajideligani, a representative from Shahin Shahr in the tenth parliament, stated this week on Khabar Online that Ebrahim Raisi initially did not intend to participate in the elections and had even considered issuing a statement to officially announce his non-participation, but the "authority of issuance" did not allow it. It seems that his reference to the "authority of issuance" is to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic. Hajideligani said on April 10 to the "Entekhab" website that Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, the godfather of the Stability Front, called for support for Mr. Raisi. He stated, "In a meeting that the members of the Stability Front had with Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, he recommended that for the presidential elections, they should approach Mr. Raisi and if conditions are met for him to enter the electoral competition, they should support him." Mr. Raisi has no executive experience and has worked in judicial positions for over three decades, including as the first deputy of the judiciary, attorney general, and special prosecutor for the clergy. He was appointed by the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the position of custodian of Astan Quds Razavi in March 2016 and is known as one of the "death judges" in the executions of 1988. The presidential elections in Iran are scheduled to be held on May 18 this year, and although Hassan Rouhani has not yet officially announced his candidacy for this position, organizations known as reformists and "moderates" have introduced him as their final candidate.