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Iran's Next President and the Nuclear Deal

(Washington Post) Jason Rezaian - Ebrahim Raisi will be Iran's next president. A cleric who was predicted to win, he was declared the winner on Saturday in large part because the scales were so obviously tipped in his favor that millions of ordinary Iranians decided to skip the exercise. Though it might be hard to imagine, his presidency is likely to usher in even more repressive tactics by the state and less accountability for those who abuse power. Raisi has pledged to adhere to a new nuclear deal that Iranian negotiators and the Biden administration are now under pressure to conclude by August when Raisi will be inaugurated. The incoming administration will do little to address the actual grievances of Iranians - or even feign that they're trying. More discontent is on the horizon and likely to spill into the streets. The Biden administration should make clear that any repeat of Raisi's history of violent suppression will be met with new and strong consequences, whether or not there is a deal in place. The writer, Washington Post correspondent in Tehran from 2012 to 2016, spent 544 days imprisoned by Iranian authorities.
2021-06-21 00:00:00
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