Officially,  Ebrahim Raisi is the new president of Iran

Iran’s state television announced on Saturday the election of Ebrahim Raisi as the country’s new president after he won 17.8 million votes with 62% of the votes.

Election Commission Chairman Jamal Arif said during a press conference that Raisi, 60, received “more than 17.8 million” votes out of a total of 28.6 million ballots cast, with more than 59.3 million Iranians invited to participate.

This comes after the announcement by the current Iranian President, Hassan Rohani, on Saturday that the first round of the elections held on Friday resulted in the election of a new President whose name was not disclosed, while the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi received congratulations from his three rivals before the official results were released.

In a televised speech, Rohani said : “I will congratulate the people on their choice (…) I will send my official congratulations later, but we know that enough votes were available in these elections, and (there are) those who were elected by the people.”

In postings on social media or statements in Iranian media, conservative hardliner candidates Mohsen Rezaï and Amir‑Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, as well as reformist Abdolnaser Hemmati, congratulated Ebrahim Raisi, (60 years old) who was the most likely to win the election.

Millions of Iranians cast their votes on Friday in an election that was expected to see Raisi, a highly conservative judge under US sanctions for human rights abuses including overseeing the 1988 execution of thousands of political prisoners.

“I hope that the government of your generous side, through measures and measures in the domestic and external arena, will achieve prosperity for the Iranian people and achieve a better life full of stability and prosperity,” the moderate candidate and former central bank governor Hamti was quoted as saying in a message.

In a televised speech, outgoing President Hassan Rohani congratulated “the president elected by the people” without mentioning Raisi by name.

Rohani said : ”As the official result has not yet been announced, I will defer the official congratulations. But it’s clear who got the votes”.

Other candidates congratulated Raisi, who was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 shortly after being appointed head of the judiciary.

Hoping to boost their legitimacy, Iran’s ruling clerics urged voters to cast their ballots, but opponents at home and abroad said popular anger at economic difficulties and restrictions on freedoms had prompted many to shun the vote.

Many pro-reform voters abstained for another reason – the hardline electoral body barred moderate and heavyweight conservative candidates from running.

Opinion polls indicate that voter turnout was around 44 percent, down from previous Iranian elections.