Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Jamal Orf said 28.9 million Iranians participated in the election, and with all votes counted, Raisi garnered over 17.926 million votes, followed by Mohsen Rezaei who secured 3.412 million.

Nasser Hemmati garnered 2.427 million votes, and Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi won almost one million votes.

Orf also said that 28,933,004 cast vote in this year’s presidential election which is 48.8 percent of eligible voters.

Later in the day, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf turned up at the campaign HQ of Raisi to congratulate him in person.

Following the meetings, the three briefed reporters on the content of their talks.

Rouhani thanked all those in charge of holding, overseeing and providing security to the election process.

The outgoing president said his team was fully ready to offer any cooperation or assistance to their successors.

Similarly, Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf said the legislative branch stood fully ready to cooperate with the president-elect’s administration.

In turn, Raisi pledged all-out efforts to resolve the country’s problems, especially those affecting the people’s livelihoods.

To achieve that goal, he said, he would consult with the outgoing administration, the parliament, and the elites.

Raisi has been the chief of Iran’s Judiciary since 2019. The Muslim cleric has formerly held several other posts in Iran’s judicial branch since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raeisi is associated with the Principlist camp, but he said he ran in the election this year as an independent when he announced his presidential bid last month.

He was campaigning with the slogan “Popular Administration, Strong Iran” on a platform of uprooting corruption in the executive branch, fighting poverty, creating jobs, containing inflation, and corruption.

Meanwhile senior foreign officials, prominent figures, and regional resistance leaders offer congratulations to Raisi, after early election results declared him as winner of Iran’s 2021 presidential election.

The ministry’s election headquarters was expected to announce the final results later in the day.

Meanwhile, Iraqi President Barham Salih felicitated Raisi on securing an overwhelming majority of the votes cast in the Friday election to become Iran’s new president.

The secretary-general of Iraq’s al-Nujaba resistance movement, Sheikh Akram al-​Ka’abi, send a similar note to the president-elect, expressing hope for closer ties between the two neighboring nations during Raeisi’s term.

In a message, Yousef al-Hasseinah, a senior member of the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad resistance movement’s Islamic Jihad, offered congratulations to the Iranian nation for marking a big win in the election and hailed its support for the

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Stating that Iran is facing issues such as nuclear industry, regional influence, missile program, and human rights, Zakani said that the Western countries are seeking to discredit Iran.

“Westerners have a material understanding, and among these issues, the nuclear ability has the capacity to be traded. The profit of this transaction can be minimal or maximum.”

He said Iran is not sanctionable but “this is the strategic tool of the United States” to sanction Iran and “it will never give up.”

Zakani says the Islamic Republic has taken action on the JCPOA and now it is the Europeans’ turn.

“The United States can also return to the deal by lifting all sanctions, after Iran’s verification. The current administration is seeking a verbal commitment,” the presidential candidate noted.

He says the American pressure on the Iranian people was aimed to explode the society.

However, he said, “If I become president, the Americans will beg and be forced to lift all sanctions.”

Zakani emphasized that all U.S. policies in dealing with Iran have failed.

“The Strategic Action law passed by the parliament must be implemented and the result is the desperation of the United States and Europe. I see the atmosphere of diplomacy as an opportunity, and with the right logic they should be isolated,” the parliamentarian stated.

On the JCPOA, the candidate said that the negotiations were not the administration’s decision.

He added, “The Supreme National Security Council decides on the issue of negotiations.”

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Fortunately, there is now talk that a person who wants to contest the presidential post should have a plan.

Actually, there is no single panacea for all problems that a country like Iran faces. However, it has been proven that certain principles are highly effective in creating a prosperous and dynamic economy and society.

Probably the most important things that a country or president must follow are accountability, transparency, and expertise.

The countries which have succeeded to present a model of economic and scientific progress have been pursuing these important principles. Examples are many. The most concrete examples with a rather great population are Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

This does not mean that corruption has been uprooted in these countries. Once in a while, certain reports surface about money laundering, bribery, or other wrongdoings in such countries. However, they deal with them seriously and make plans to close possible loopholes for the reemergence of such wrongdoings.

There is a misconception among a great percentage of our people that having a good relationship with the outside world, especially the West, is the key to many problems. Of course, having a good relationship with countries for economic ties is a necessity, but each country must reform itself and rely on its own talents.

There are certain countries that have an amicable relationship with Western countries but their population suffers from poverty, their economy is afflicted with corruption, and favoritism is preferred over meritocracy.

If Iran wants to emerge as an economically prosperous country, it should give priority to the aforementioned principles or approaches. So far, Iran has made tangible progress in terms of science, especially in the field of nanotechnology. But this is not enough. The pace of technological progress should be expedited. Due attention should be paid to research and development (R&D). The talented persons as the main assets of the country should be highly treasured.

If the talents are valued and transparency prevails, there will be less brain drain. In such a situation, brain drain may even be reversed.

Now it is true that Iran is subject to cruel and illegal sanctions and the export of oil, as the main source of the country’s income, has been incredibly reduced, but what is dangerous is to pin hope again on oil incomes because the sanctions will not remain in place forever.

Officials in Iran, especially the ones who will win the June 18 presidential elections, must also be aware of the fact that renewable sources of energy are rapidly pushing fossil fuels, such as oil and gas, to the sideline. However, this does not mean that Iran should not use all its diplomatic and political power to remove sanctions because the current financial bans are debilitating the economy.

Talents are much valuable than natural resources, especially in a country as big as Iran with about 85 million population. Abundant natural resources bring welfare for small countries such as Qatar and Kuwait, whose native population is hardly over one million.

In the remaining time to the presidential elections, experts have the duty to make the masses as the main electorate aware that the airing of hollow slogans by presidential candidates is just populism and even treachery.

During the presidential campaigns, certain candidates resort to demagoguery and give slogans as if they have magic hands. They speak as if they are superhuman and are able to do miracles.

It is mostly through making the system accountable and transparent and giving top priority to science and technology that can pave the way for a successful Iran.

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Speaking at a presser on Saturday, Mr. Orf said the upcoming presidential election‌ security headquarters is formed in the Ministry of Interior to take required measures. He went on to say that the presidential election‌ security headquarters would examine electoral challenges and opportunities and make decisions accordingly.

He stated that if mayhem happened in some traditional electoral constituencies, the presidential election‌ security headquarters would have been ready to prevent them.

He noted that the presidential election‌ security headquarters would be chaired by the deputy interior minister for security and other related officials.

Responding to a question on Presidential Election Law’s amendments in the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the changes on the election process from the registration to vote to count, Orf underlined that turning a plan into law was time-consuming and it could not be predicted right then.

He also reiterated that all sanitary protocols will be observed during the election and it will not be held in more than one day due to the law but according to the law, the time of election can be extended till midnight.

Various meetings will be held on the presidential election, and the first one is due this Wednesday, February 3, 2021.

The Assembly of Experts election will be held on April 2, the City Council elections on March 10, and the Village Council elections on April 5. The presidential election‌ registration will be held on May 11. The public will be informed in case of any possible changes, he added.

Orf also stated that the former U.S. arrogant president was ousted and we hope that its new administration to act based on international laws.

He stated that the U.S. maximum pressure strategy has failed by people’s resistance.

Orf added that in 2020, the world has faced Coronavirus and it is still challenging with this pandemic.

“With the cooperation of people and the beginning of vaccination process, Iran can contain the virus,” he noted.

The presidential election is an important upcoming event in Iran, so all the needed procedures have been taken to hold it in the best possible way, Orf stressed.

He went on to say that registration for the candidates can be online but the volunteers should finally register in person in the election headquarters.

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