Iran's election ‘competition for who is most sycophant’ - expert

Hardliner Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi may be frontrunner in the race to elect the next president of .

By Yonah Jeremy Bob / May 13, 2021

Iran’s upcoming June 18 presidential election is shaping up as a race among hard-liners on who can demonstrate the most loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah , according to an Iran expert. […] Iran expert Dr. Raz Zimmt, a fellow at INSS and an editor at the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, agreed with Javedanfar that predictions at this point were difficult, but was willing to give some very initial estimates. Zimmt said that there is no clear leader between the reformist or pragmatist camps, which gives the hard-line camp its biggest advantage in years. Though there could be competition within the hard-line camp, especially with a variety of former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials vying for the presidency, Zimmt said the initial front-runner could be Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi was defeated by current President in 2017, but garnered almost 16 million votes, close to 40% of the total vote, and Rouhani cannot run again having finished his second term. However, like most candidates, Raisi has not yet officially declared his intentions. Multiple potential candidates, including Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and a former mayor of , have said they would drop out if Raisi runs, said Zimmt.

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For full article: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/irans-election-competition-for-who-is-most- sycophant-expert-668084