Leading Iranian cleric enters election race in threat to Rouhani

A prominent conservative cleric will contest Iran’s presidential elections next month, with the potential to unify conservative voters and present a strong challenge to President Hassan Rouhani.

Ebrahim Raisi announced his candidacy on Thursday, according to the Tasnim news agency, a day after two other conservatives, former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, bowed out. The emergence of a single strong candidate with close ties to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could narrow Rouhani’s chance of winning re-election on May 19. The moderate cleric, a champion of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, won in a landslide in 2013 against a divided field of five conservative opponents.

“The regime wouldn’t allow someone like Raisi to run without wanting him to win,” Sanam Vakil, an associate fellow at Chatham House, said by phone. “To risk his credentials on the presidency only makes sense if he is going to survive the electoral process, with reputation and credibility intact.”

Rouhani has worked to normalise the country’s relations with the West and open Iran to international trade and investment. If he loses power, the conservative establishment could push Iran back into open hostility toward the U.S. and its allies, scaring off investors and raising the risk of additional US sanctions or even a military confrontation.

Raisi, 56, has held a variety of religious and judicial roles in Iran’s Islamic establishment. Khamenei appointed him last year to manage the Astan Quds Razavi, an Islamic charity that controls assets worth billions of dollars as well as the country’s holiest shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad. The appointment signaled Khamenei’s confidence in Raisi and raised speculation that he could succeed the 77-year-old leader

The decision to run for the presidency represents both opportunities and risks for Raisi and his conservative backers. Beyond the powers of the presidency, victory would increase his chances of succeeding Khamenei, who himself served two terms as president under Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran’s 1979 revolution. Failure could take the momentum out of his career and ruin his chance to win Iran’s top role.

“This is going to be a very serious race with huge consequences for the Iranian electorate,” Vakil said. “The stakes are very high

source : gulfnews