Page 11 - MEOG Week 32 2021

MEOG POLICY MEOG
death. He has said the sentences were justified because then-supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhol- lah Khomeini had issued a fatwa, or religious ruling. The US imposed sanctions on Raisi in 2019 for claimed human rights abuses.
Untold misery
The sheer weight of the problems facing Raisi and causing untold misery among Iran’s 83mn-strong population may suggest he would be foolish not to make every effort to secure a ‘JCPOA 2’ and the economic lift it would bring the country.
But the nuclear deal—under which Iran agreed to UN inspections and measures aimed at keeping its nuclear programme entirely civilian in return for a shield against heavy sanctions— was Rouhani’s signature achievement and the hardliners, including Raisi, set their faces against it when it was first negotiated. Reviving it is an awkward matter for the conservative camp and any demand from the US that the deal should be reconfigured to restrict Iran’s ballistic missile programme and support for allied militias across Middle East conflict zones will be a non-starter.
During the inauguration, broadcast live on Iranian state TV, Raisi pledged: “I will dedicate myself to the service of the people, the honour of the country, the propagation of religion and morality, and the support of truth and justice.”
Among 80 foreign dignitaries invited to the Tehran swearing-in were Russian Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Iraqi President Barham Salih, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan the parliament
speakers from Niger, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanza- nia, and Uzbekistan and the deputy parliament speaker from Kazakhstan.
Other attendees included regional represent- atives of alleged terror groups, including Ismail Haniyeh from Hamas and Naim Qassem from Hezbollah, who sat next to each other.
Raisi was initially expected to submit his pro- posed cabinet immediately after the inaugura- tion, but some local reports suggest that move will now take place next week.
Raisi as ‘Ayatollah’
Lately, the pro-regime media in Iran have started referring to Raisi as “Ayatollah”, where previously he was classed as a regular Islamic cleric. The media push appears to be part of a wider effort to raise the new president’s credentials, despite his lack of formal education.
Raisi, born in Mashhad, did not progress beyond the lower levels of a clerical school in Qom or elsewhere prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, at the culmination of which he was 18-years-old. There has long been speculation that Raisi is likely to succeed Khamenei, 83, as supreme leader. Such talk faded after Rouhani trounced him in the 2017 presidential election, but is now getting louder.
During the inauguration proceedings, guests may have noticed two empty front row chairs.
They were for the Larijani brothers, Ali and Sadeq, who reportedly refused to attend the event due to Ali being one of the candidates disqualified from contesting the presidential election.™
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