Human rights defenders believe that Judge Ebrahim Raisi should be investigated for the death sentences of thousands of political prisoners, rather than being promoted to the highest office in the country.
Photo: Mohammad Farnood / SIPA / SCANPIX / LETA
Valdis Bērziņš, “Latvijas Avīze”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”
Ultra-conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi has won the Iranian presidential election. According to official figures, he won 61.9% of the vote. 48.8% of Iran’s more than 59 million eligible voters voted, a record low. The election was attended by five candidates selected by the country’s highest clergy, and the ultra-conservative chairman of the justice system, Raisi, was initially considered a favorite.
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Analysts note that many voters refused to vote, believing the result was in favor of Raisi, who is known as a strong ally of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Hamene. The winner of the election will take office in August, taking over from moderate Hasana Ruhani, who has served a maximum of two four-year terms.
Judge Raisi has confirmed the killing of political prisoners
Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first to congratulate Ebrahim Rais on his victory, marking the two countries’ “traditionally friendly and good neighborly relations”. The leaders of Syria, Iraq, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have also sent messages of support and congratulations. A spokesman for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip and is backed by Iran, has wished Iran “progress and prosperity.” Israeli officials have expressed deep concern over the election of Ebrahim Raisi as President of Iran.
A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said “Raisi is Iran’s most extremist president to date.” He warned Western countries that Iran’s new leader would increase the country’s nuclear activities. Raisi, Iran’s supreme judge, has been subject to US sanctions and has previously been linked to the death penalty for political prisoners.
Israeli spokesman Lior Haiat has called Raisy a “Tehran butcher” in a tweet because of his involvement in the mass murder of thousands of political prisoners in 1988. According to Amnesty International, Raisi was one of four judges called the Death Committee, which sentenced about 5,000 men and women to death. Haiat estimates that more than 30,000 people were killed at the time. This is also confirmed by Iranian human rights groups.
“As head of Iran’s repressive judiciary, Raisi oversaw several of the most heinous crimes in Iran’s recent history, which should be investigated and prosecuted rather than promoted to the highest position in the country,” said Michael Page, a spokesman for Human Rights Watch.
Raisi (60) was appointed Deputy Prosecutor of Tehran at the age of 25 and became one of four judges to chair secret tribunals where political prisoners who had already been sentenced to prison were retried. Raisi has repeatedly denied his role in sentencing to death. He said that such an action was justified because the fatwa or religious order had been given by the supreme leader Ayatollah Homeini.
Five years ago, an audio recording of a 1988 meeting between Raissi, several other judges and Ayatollah José Ali Montazeri, then deputy chief executive, was leaked. The recording describes Montazeri as describing the killings as “the greatest crime in the history of the Islamic Republic,” according to Reuters. A year later, Montazeri lost his post as Homeini’s chosen successor and Ayatollah Hamene became the supreme leader after Homeini’s death.
Israel worries about Raisi presidency
The elections took place at a time when Tehran is continuing talks in Vienna with the world’s powers to maintain the 2015 nuclear pact. Iran and Israel have been involved in the so-called shadow war for many years, with both countries retaliating for each other’s crimes but avoiding widespread conflict so far, Reuters notes.
The situation is complicated, Iran is taking militant action in the international waters of the Gulf, but Tehran’s nuclear ambitions are a major concern. Iran accuses Israel of killing its nuclear scientist last year and attacking one of its uranium enrichment plants in April.
According to Israel, Iran’s nuclear program is not peaceful and it is convinced that Tehran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. The 2015 agreement on Iran’s nuclear program provided for the lifting of Western sanctions if Tehran ceased nuclear activities.
The agreement collapsed when President Trump-led United States withdrew, with the White House renewing tough economic sanctions. President Baiden’s administration is now active in trying to find a way to rejoin the treaty. In response to the tightening of sanctions, Iran has increased its nuclear activities. Its current uranium enrichment program is the most far-reaching, although it has not yet produced the concentration of nuclear material needed for nuclear weapons, the BBC notes.
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