Actually, the list of presidential candidates - 2021 was supposed to be announced on May 26 or 27, but the leak on the candidates approved by the Guardian Council and the spiritual leader happened ahead of schedule - on May 24.
And she literally blew up the internet, the media and Iranian voters.
The Persona segment of Twitter is in shock and burst into sarcastic collages on the topic of the list of candidates: “1.
Raisi;
2. Raisi;
3. Raisi "- and so on until seven Raisi in a row.
For seven is the official number of candidates admitted to the elections, with 592 registered.
Okay, it is clear that 592 is an astronomical figure, but traditional for the Iranian elections, depicting "democracy" and turning Iran into a show of triumph of opportunities for everyone who wants to catch their moment of glory, showing up at the polling station for registration and getting caught on TV cameras.
But all strong heavyweight candidates were removed from the final list, and Raisi remained virtually alone with himself in this election campaign.
Heavyweight Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose second term, the spiritual leader of Iran, probably cannot forget and forgive until now, has been cleared from these 13 presidential elections.
The moderate heavyweight Ali Larijani, a confidant of Khamenei and a real insider of the regime, the only serious opponent of Raisi from the camp of moderate pragmatists, hated by army generals, was disqualified.
The Vice-President under Rouhani, Eshak Jahangiri, has dropped out.
Yesterday, on the evening of May 24, several more candidates announced their rejection, one of whom, Hossein Dehgan, was among the favorites of the presidential race and the most often called "military president".
The British through The Guardian and their think tanks (“brain trusts” -
Yu
.
Yu.
), As well as the Americans, through Bloomberg, called him the next president in a “whisper”.
Moreover, your humble servant just yesterday wrote a big column about Dehgan, deciding to open a series of introductory articles to them with the favorites of the presidential race - 2021.
Hossein Dehgan
globallookpress.com
© Ahmad Halabisaz / XinHua
And on you!
Dehgan is a Ksirov general who has close ties with Lebanese Hezbollah and a permanent “adviser” to Iranian presidents of the most diverse political spectrum, from the sophisticated Westernizer Khatami to the militant Ahmadinejad, who “looks after” the presidents from the spiritual leader himself - and he is cleaned up.
The young charismatic Ksirovite Said Mohammad, who was taken under his wing by the commander of the IRGC himself, General Salami, is not on the list either.
Khamenei, who repeatedly repeated the thesis that young and talented hezbollahi should be allowed to power and made journalists look for (and find) this young hezbollahi technocrat manager in the person of Said Mohammad, feels fooled.
For the powerful figure of the former prosecutor in charge of death sentences, and now the head of Iranian justice, 60-year-old Ibrahim Raisi, the most brutal cleric, does not pull the young manager in any way.
Ibrahim Raisi
Reuters
Although, on the other hand, compared to the 94-year-old head of the Guardian Council Ahmad Jannati Raisi is still quite a youth.
The list of candidates admitted to the elections is just a delight for Iranians of retirement age: in addition to the cleric Raisi, it contains the traditional asset of “friends-generals” from the IRGC, who were born in the 50s of the last century.
Here is the list of candidates released today by the Iranian Interior Ministry:
1. Said Jalili, 55, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, nuclear negotiator and former deputy foreign minister for Europe and the United States;
2. Mohsen Rezayi, 66, former commander of the IRGC;
3. Ibrahim Raisi, head of the judiciary;
4. Alireza Zakani, Parliamentary Research Center;
5. Amir Hossein Hashemi;
6. Mohsen Mehralizadeh, 64, former deputy prime minister for sports, representative of the reformists;
7. Abdolnaser Hemmati, 64, head of the Central Bank of Iran.
Half of the list is practically unknown or little-known to the public characters who play the role of extras.
The reaction to such a political clean-up was predictable.
“The reformists are deprived of active participation in the elections.
The Guardian Council violates the right of people to vote in free elections and made elections meaningless, ”Azar Mansuri, a spokeswoman for the Iranian Reformist Front, said today.
"Raisi's victory after the elimination of his rivals will be nothing more than a victory in the race with the turtles," said Ahmad Zeidabadi, a reform columnist and former political prisoner.
Browser Atlantic Counsil Cayed Jafari calls Mohsen Rezaee, 66-year-old ksirovskogo General participating in the elections on a regular basis, "a man who will never go away from the scene" and election-addict (vyborozavisimym -.
RT
).
Persian Twitter segment: "Elections without Mohsen Rezaya are like a kebab without onions."
Social networks and media from the early morning are full of collages and ironic pictures, where Ibrahim Raisi in a blue and red superman suit fights with another Ibrahim Raisi in a blue and red superman suit.
Or on the stage with traditional Iranian tribunes for debates, there are seven identical Raisi with the caption: "In this sensational election, it is completely unclear whether he will win the presidential race in tense debates with his rivals!"
Apparently, such a flurry of irony touched Mr. Raisi, who was used to being afraid of him, so this afternoon he made a video message, where he said the following: “Since yesterday evening, when I was informed about the results of the qualifications, maybe you, gentlemen, and not you know about it, but I have established contacts and consultations to make the electoral scene more competitive and open. "
But it is not known whether his reaction was spontaneous or if it was part of a Persian political spectacle trying to correct the bloody image of Raisi (a former prosecutor, a member of the notorious four judges who wrote out thousands of death sentences for political prisoners in the late 1980s) and present it to voters almost like defender of democracy and fighter for justice.
If the latter assumption is correct, we can learn the name of another candidate to say with delight: "Wow, even in Iran there is freedom of speech and political competition!"
Let us also not forget that Raisi Khamenei put forward the uncompromising figure when the negotiating delegations from Vienna left for their homes and in Washington, right these days, the final decision on the deal is being made: a compromise or to yield to Tehran in full?
To scare and push Washington with the figure of Raisi in a black turban - perhaps with a chess game of rahbar, when he holds the trump card in his sleeve.
I would not discount this option.
Although, all the same, we all perfectly understand that the Great Counter-Revolution is taking place on the Eurasian continent, establishing order, silence and harsh discipline - and it does not matter if it is China, Belarus, Russia, Iran or the British monarchy.
Now is not the time to rebel, baby.
Look: even Islamic "revolutionaries" have grown old and become ardent counter-revolutionaries.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.