Is Putin interfering in Iran’s presidential elections?
Conservative presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi’s meeting with a visiting Russian official has raised debate on Moscow’s potential interference in Iran’s May 19 vote.
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On April 20, Iranian conservative presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi met with visiting Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov — an encounter that Raisi probably did not expect would end up causing problems ahead of the May 19 presidential elections.
The hard-line Tasnim News Agency, which is seen as backing Raisi and reported the meeting, described Minnikhanov as an envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, seemingly to highlight Raisi’s stature.