Iran accuses US of interfering in domestic affairs
State Department spokesperson Ned Price described President-elect Ebrahim Raisi’s landslide win as “pre-manufactured.”
Iran accused the United States on Tuesday of meddling in its domestic affairs after the State Department cast doubt on the legitimacy of incoming Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s landslide victory.
The 60-year-old hard-line judiciary chief won more than 17.9 million of the 28.9 million votes cast on Friday, according to Iran’s Interior Ministry. More than 3.7 million ballots were left blank, many believed to be protest votes. Even before ballot-counting was complete on Friday, Raisi’s three rivals had conceded the race.
Raisi, who will replace term-limited President Hassan Rouhani in August, faced no credible competition. The unelected body that vets presidential candidates, the Guardian Council, barred candidates who posed a serious threat to Raisi from running.
Further undermining Raisi’s mandate was the record low participation of voters. Turnout was 48%, according to election officials, compared to more than 70% in the last presidential election in 2017.
