Khamenei endorses strict cleric Raisi as Iran’s president

Tehran, August 3 (EFE). – Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday ratified strict cleric Ebrahim Raisi as the country’s new president and asserted that he has “a brilliant administrative record for following the revolution’s bright path.”

The approval ceremony, which was held in Imam Khomeini’s religious district of central Tehran, was attended by the country’s top political and military leaders.

Raisi, who until recently was the head of the judiciary, won the presidential election last June with about 62% of the vote, in an election marked by a low turnout in which moderate Hassan Rouhani was unable to run for re-election.

The ratification decree, which was read out by Khamenei’s chief of staff, highlighted that the new president is “a popular figure, high-ranking and descended from the family of the Prophet Muhammad.”

The leader wished Raisi “success” in solving the country’s problems, and among them he referred to the devaluation of the national currency.

Raisi is facing a series of internal challenges such as the economic crisis, the lack of control of the COVID-19 pandemic and the power and water cuts, which have led to the outbreak of popular protests in the country.

Internationally, tension has risen in recent days after an attack on an Israeli oil tanker on July 29 off the coast of Oman, killing two of its crew, a British and a Romanian.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken promised that his country would respond to this aggression “collectively” with the United Kingdom, Israel, Romania and other countries. EFE

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