Raisi received 17.9 million votes, 62 percent of the more than 28 million ballots cast.
His nearest rival, Mohsen Rezai got 3.3 million votes. Abdolnasser Hemmati, who hoped to attract support from the country’s moderate voters, received 2.4 million votes, and Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi received one million votes.
Raisi, 60, the ultraconservative chief justice who is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will take over from outgoing President Hassan Rouhani in August.
On Saturday morning, even before official results were announced, Raisi’s three rivals conceded, sending him messages of congratulations.
Hemmati, an economist and head of the central bank, sent Raisi a message saying he hoped his presidency would help to improve the welfare of the nation. Former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Rezai, also sent his congratulations to Raisi, wishing him success as president. Ghazizadeh-Hashemi also congratulated Raisi.
Apathy for the election was high among Iran’s nearly 60 million voters. The campaign failed to stir interest among voters disillusioned under crippling sanctions, the coronavirus pandemic, and an all but certain outcome. Raisi was tipped to win the vote since the Guardian Council that vets candidates barred his main rivals from running.
Rouhani, in a speech on Saturday morning, said he was proud of his government’s record. His landmark achievement was signing the 2015 nuclear deal that put limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. When former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed sanctions that crippled Iran’s economy, hopes for greater engagement with the West and prosperity at home were crushed. Rouhani is now trying to save his legacy. Talks are ongoing in Vienna to revive the nuclear deal, bringing the US back on board, lifting sanctions, and Tehran back into full compliance with its nuclear obligations.
Raisi is likely to continue efforts to save the nuclear deal, which has been given the green light by Khamenei.
Updated at 5:19 pm
