The election of conservative Ebrahim Raisi as president of Iran has driven home a harsh fact for the international community: the Islamic Republic will not be undergoing its long hoped for transformational reform in the near future.
Raisi’s presidency, beginning with his inauguration on August 5, 2021, solidifies conservative control over Iran’s elected institutions as well as those unelected organizations under the purview of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Raisi, a regime insider with close ties to Khamenei and who is the subject of US sanctions for human rights abuses, believes in faithfully protecting the security and stability of the Iranian state.
Iran just got trickier
Sanam Vakil offers a pragmatist’s guide to dealing with a more conservative Tehran
