TEHRAN – An Iraqi analyst believes that due to new regional arrangements Iran will play a prominent role in West Asia under the leadership of Ebrahim Raisi who was elected Iranian president in the June 18 elections.

Raisi, the Judiciary chief, won the presidential election in Iran with a huge margin. From a total of about 29 million votes, Raisi succeeded to win about 18 million. The president-elect will take the power in mid-August.

“Americans have decided to begin a remarkable withdrawal of their forces from the region, which draws a map of new balances in which Iran’s Raisi will have a prominent role,” Ali Fahim tells the Tehran Times.

Many political observers predict that Ebrahim Raisi’s victory in the election will result in more Iranian support for resistance groups. 

“The arrival of Mr. Ibrahim Raeisi to the helm of power gives a great moral impetus to the resistance axis because of his personal characteristics, personal biography, honorable history, and seriousness in dealing with pivotal issues, especially since he is attributed to the revolutionary axis,” Fahim argues. 

Q: How do you see the results of the Iranian presidential election and its implications for the region and the wider world?

A: The entire world witnessed the process of the recent Iranian elections, which was held amid special circumstances that the world in general and the region, in particular, are going through. The previous stage was accompanied by circumstances that might be difficult in some aspects, especially with regard to the Corona pandemic on the one hand, which cast a shadow over the economy of all countries without exception.

Iran faced unjust U.S. sanctions on the other hand, and Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal, in addition to the exacerbation of many crises and the militarily tense in the region, especially in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, and other countries.

There are a lot of countries experiencing military conflicts in which the resistance movement receives direct support from Iran not only in the Middle East (West Asia) but in Venezuela and South America. All of these factors impacted Iranian politics and the results of the current elections.

The West, America, Israel, and some Arab countries that follow American policies in the region bet on finding a flaw in the Iranian election process by working to encourage the people to boycott the elections.

They made every effort to question Iran’s legitimacy internationally and thus question election results, especially after most of the qualified candidates were critical of the Western camp.

That is why the Western attack on the election was very fierce, supported by opinion polls that nominated the turnout rate between 20-25%, while the formal results announced by the Ministry of Interior shows 48.8%.

It was a large rate if we take into account the risk of the Corona pandemic and its effects on the decision of the masses about gathering and mobilizing in narrow areas.

Add to it the reluctance of many voters due to the frustration of Iranians, especially the youth, as a result of the difficult economic conditions. So, we can say the strict and harsh U.S. sanctions affected the election.

Thus, this election sent a set of messages, the first of which is that the “campaigns of boycott” failed to change the awareness of the Iranian people, who are in harmony with their authorities.

In Iran, the public interest prevailed over individual interests, and this was clear from the participation of all groups of Iranian society and all its ethnic and political spectrums.

The second message is that the principles and causes of the Islamic Revolution are still present in the mentality of the Iranian people, and it was not affected by Western propaganda and their media outlets.

Iranians remained aware and alert, despite the unjust economic sanctions and the economic blockade. The U.S. attempts not only failed to discourage Iranian people, but on the contrary, it was a pivotal factor in the people’s rallying around their leadership and strengthening their trust in them.

The fate of the country and domestic politics is in the ballot boxes only, and it contains a message for dictatorial regimes that do not differentiate between fruit boxes and ballot boxes, as described by Imam Khamenei.

According to the Iranian leader, the strength of Iran as a political system is in freedom of choice, expression of opinion, and the peaceful transfer of power.

 These monarchies that criticize the Islamic Republic of Iran lack democratic institutions and elections.

Q: What is the impact of the Iranian elections on the resistance front?

A: Iranian foreign policy principles cannot be changed, including support for the axis of resistance.

This approach has been constant in all governments of the Islamic Republic since its birth until today. The elections may have a slight impact on foreign policy and methods in supporting the resistance front but the strategy is not changeable.

However, the arrival of Mr. Ibrahim Raisi to the helm of power gives a great moral impetus to the resistance axis because of his personal characteristics, personal biography, honorable record, and seriousness in dealing with pivotal issues, especially since he is linked to the revolutionary movement.

I refer to his speech in which he pledged to form a persevering and revolutionary government. For all this, it can be said that the next stage will witness distinct support and a great renaissance for the resistance axis, which is different from what came before.

Q: Why is the Western camp trying to present an extremist image of the new Iranian president?

A: The media in the Western and Arab world tries to portray the Islamic Republic in a stereotypical way that it is a violent and extremist state, as George Bush the Jr. placed Iran within the axis of evil. This is U.S. constant policy to accuse Iranian officials and presidents, including those who were open to the West.

 However, with the arrival of President Ibrahim Raisi, the campaign preceded the election by calling him an extremist and hardliner and other descriptions that contained hidden messages, to designate him within U.S. sanctions. 

However, the United States today has to deal with Mr. Raisi as a reality or a status-quo as he is the president of the Islamic Republic.

Americans are negotiating with Iranians indirectly to restore the nuclear deal to its previous track and rejoin the agreement without preconditions.

Q: What are your expectations regarding the Israeli response to the Iranian-Western negotiations in Vienna and the recent elections?

A: Israel tried with everything it could to spoil the nuclear agreement. It even tried to ignite war in the region more than once, but in every attempt it failed, especially since the former Zionist regime’s Prime Minister Netanyahu tried to use this card to win elections by fabricating a lot of harassment against the Islamic Republic including by targeting Iranian ships, cyber-attacks and others.

 But the wisdom of the Islamic Republic thwarted the Zionist plan until Netanyahu was removed.

The new Prime Minister Bennett despite his disagreement with the nuclear deal and his opposition to America’s return to the agreement believes that any new agreement will be worse than the 2015 agreement. In this regard, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi was sent to meet with senior American officials regarding the agreement.

Q: How do you see the future of Iran’s relations with Persian Gulf Arab states in the future after the June 18 presidential election and Saudi Arabia’s return to the negotiating table with Iran and Syria?

A: President-elect Ibrahim Raeisi was clear, even in 2017, during his election campaigns, when he proposed dialogue and cooperation with all neighboring countries, including the (Persian) Gulf countries, especially with Saudi Arabia.

It is no secret that several meetings were held between Iran and Saudi Arabia with the mediation of Iraq in Baghdad to resolve outstanding problems and to reach solutions that satisfy all parties.

Mr. Raeisi will work on the continuation of these meetings. He wants a stable and secure region, by reducing tensions, and pulling the rug out from under the feet of those who want to ignite war in the region by their proxies.

This project is what martyr General Qassem Soleimani was working on until his martyrdom.

We have seen the change in the rhetoric of the crown prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia towards the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Besides the Saudis have taken positive steps to restore diplomatic relations with Syria, and I believe that the map of the region will move towards gradual stability because the approaches taken by the countries are heading towards economic growth and stopping wars and bleeding.

Today China is playing a pivotal role in regional balances. That is why Iran moved towards a strategic agreement with China and the U.S. pays attention to the Chinese danger.

 In this regard, Americans have decided to begin a remarkable withdrawal of its forces from the region, which draws a map of new balances in which Iran’s Raisi will have a prominent role.