U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price stated that Washington considers the process that led to the election of new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to be highly artificial and lacking freedom and integrity. Price emphasized that U.S. policy towards Tehran aims to promote American interests, regardless of who leads Iran.
In this context, White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted during a press conference that any violation of human rights will fall on the new President Raisi. In response to a question from an "Al-Arabiya" and "Al-Hadath" reporter, Psaki indicated that the Iranian Supreme Leader is the decision-maker in the country, and that the situation there has not changed whether before or after the elections.
Meanwhile, France expressed its concern about the future of human rights in Iran. The spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Stefan Seibert, confirmed that the method of selecting election candidates in Iran does not align with freedom and integrity. In a regular press briefing on Monday, he mentioned, "We are aware of Ebrahim Raisi's role in executions in Iran." He also stressed the importance of continuing negotiations in Vienna regarding the nuclear agreement, which the new Iranian president will play a role in moving forward.
Raisi stated in his first press conference since announcing his victory that there would be no negotiations on regional issues or ballistic missiles. However, observers noted that his comments on various internal and external issues contained contradictions. It was reported that the thirteenth round of Iranian presidential elections started after 99% of the 592 candidates were disqualified in an unprecedented step, allowing only seven candidates to compete before the number dropped to four after two withdrew in favor of Raisi and one in favor of Hemmati. According to the official report from the Iranian Ministry of Interior, Ebrahim Raisi won the elections with 17,926,345 votes.
