Raeisi turned up at the Iranian Interior Ministry’s election headquarters in Tehran on Saturday, the last day of the registration process, to officially hand in his credentials and put his name down for the race.

“Seeing the living conditions of the people; the issues of unemployment, high prices, the people’s livelihood, and the economic situation are a major cause for concern,” the Judiciary chief said after signing up for the vote.

Raeisi proclaimed that he would be running on a platform of fighting “corruption and incompetence,” and that he did not consider himself “a contender against political groups.”

In a statement earlier in the day, Raeisi — a figure largely associated with the Principlist camp — announced he was seeking to contest the key vote as an “independent” candidate with the aim of bringing about change in the country’s executive management.

“While respecting all the candidates and political groups, I have entered the scene…as an independent in order to bring about a change in the country’s executive management and put up a relentless fight against poverty and corruption, humiliation and discrimination,” he said the statement.

Raeisi said he had a good knowledge of the country’s challenges and problems besides its resources and capabilities, pledging efforts to help the nation in line with the “Second Step of the Revolution” statement issued in 2019 by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to Iran’s young generation.

Raeisi served as attorney general from 2014 to 2016, and was deputy Judiciary chief from 2004 to 2014. He was also prosecutor and deputy prosecutor of Tehran in the 1980s and 90s.

Another Principlist figure, Sa’eed Jalili, has joined the 2021 Iranian presidential race, despite widespread belief earlier that he would not run if heavyweight Ebrahim Raeisi did, and potentially contributing to a further division of Principlist votes.

Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri has registered to run in the June 18 presidential election, pitting himself against Ebrahim Raeisi, who is seen as the Principlists’ main candidate.

Jahangiri filed his application with the election headquarters at the Interior Ministry on Saturday, the final day of the registration process for presidential hopefuls.

Jahangiri was the Reformist camp’s second-best choice, after Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on Wednesday that he would not be running, turning the spotlight on the Iranian vice president.

“Our Iran has faced various issues and difficulties in recent years and is now in serious need of real openings in people’s lives, all-out development, [and] the improvement of people’s livelihoods with the removal of sanctions, sustainable economic growth that would create jobs, and support for production and a fairer redistribution of wealth,” he said.

“Elections should be honored and made effective as an opportunity arising from the ideals of the Islamic Revolution and the constitutional capacity to exercise national sovereignty and reform the governance process,” he added.

Jahangiri said he had not intended to run, but decided against his initial intention after Zarif announced his own refusal to run.

A former Parliament speaker, Larijani headed to the election headquarters at the Iranian Interior Ministry in Tehran on Saturday — the last day of registration — to officially put his name down for the race.

His nomination comes after weeks of speculation about whether or not he would run and whether he would run a Principlist or Reformist ticket. A veteran politician, Larijani is associated with the Principlist camp but has been tapped as a potential ally by both sides in recent months.

Larijani served as the speaker of the Iranian Parliament from 2008 to 2020. He was the secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council from 2005 to 2007.

Meanwhile, a number of other figures from the two Reformist and Principlist camps, including former cabinet ministers Abbas Akhoundi, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Shamseddin Hosseini, have so far appeared at the registration venue to file their applications.

Ex-lawmaker Mostafa Kavakebian and former IRIB chief Ezzatollah Zarghami also put down their names for the key vote.

The registration process will come to an end at 18:00 local time later in the day.

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According To Iran News, The Chief of Iran’s judiciary said that the justice seekers of the world should know that Jesus Christ hates all this oppression, corruption and state terrorism and the killing of human beings in the world.

Chief of the judiciary, Hojjatoleslam Seyed Ebrahim Raisi congratulated the birth of Jesus Christ  (PBUH) to God-worshipers, right-seekers, and justice seekers and said: The message of Jesus Christ (PBUH) is an invitation to God, justice, peace, and friendship, and those who do injustice toward the nations under the name of  Christianity have nothing to do with Him.

Raisi added: “Jesus (PBUH) hates all this oppression, corruption and terror, especially the state terrorism of the American regime, and if he were living, he would not be satisfied with all the oppression against the people of the region, especially the oppressed people of Palestine and the children of Yemen and he could not stand it either.”

Addressing the true followers of Prophet Moses (PBUH) and Prophet Jesus (PBUH), he emphasized that these two great prophets hate the crimes committed by abusing the Jewish and Christian titles in the world, and such acts are rejected by all divine prophets.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Iran Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi says Western countries are showing green light for the continuation of terror when they call for self-restraint.

“Westerners who call for restraint in the face of terror are actually showing green light to terrorists,” he said in a local judicial event on Monday.

The remarks come as European countries have called on Iran to show ‘self-restraint’ in response to the assassination of Iranian top scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Friday.

Raisi also urged related military, judicial, and security officials to form a special task force to identify and prosecute those behind the assassination.

Naming Fakhrizadeh as the ‘hero’ of ‘nullifying sanctions and threats’ in defense and nuclear fields, Raisi said “Experience shows that to counter sanctions and terror, one should only become stronger.”

The logic of ‘producing power’ has become the mindset of Iranian youth in different fields, he said, adding that one should not neglect to adopt deterrent measures against the enemy as “it only understands the language of power.”

Sanction and terror are two sides of the same coin and it is a mistake to pin hope on the lifting of sanctions through negotiation, he added.

Speaking at a meeting of the Judiciary’s High Council on Monday, Raeisi ordered the country’s prosecutor general to set up a special task force in cooperation with the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, the Armed Force’s Judicial Organization, and the security and intelligence organizations in order to prosecute the people who ordered and perpetrated the assassination attack on Fakhrizadeh.

The top judge also urged the Iranian security and intelligence forces to immediately detect and disband the “infiltration network” across the country and take action against the insiders sending signals to the enemies.

Paying tribute to Fakhrizadeh as the hero of “nullifying the sanctions and threats” in the nuclear and defense industries, Raeisi emphasized the need for strong “preventive measures” because “the enemy knows only the logic of force.”

“Sanctions and assassination are two sides of the same coin. The Westerners that appeal for (Iran to exercise) self-restraint vis-a-vis assassination are in fact giving terrorists the green light,” he added.

The Judiciary chief went on to say that it would be a mistake to hope for a removal of sanctions through negotiations.

Meanwhile yesterday in a ceremony, akhrizadeh was laid to rest three days after his assassination outside Tehran, with the country’s defense minister pledging to continue his work “with more speed and more power.”

He was buried at Imamzadeh Saleh mosque in Tajrish in northern Tehran’s Shemiran district on Monday after a detailed funeral ceremony was held in the morning.

The cortege began at the Ministry of Defense in east Tehran, with top state and military officials on hand to pay their respect to a man who played a leading role in bolstering Iran’s defense power and advancing its nuclear energy program.

An honor guard carried the casket containing his remains which reportedly received three shots during an ambush in a boulevard in Absard where assailants blew up an explosives-laden Nissan truck before targeting him and his security detail in a hail of bullets.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Judiciary Chief has ordered the serious pursuit of financial corruption suspects who have fled the country, warning that they will not be spared prosecution no matter where they have run to.

Ebrahim Raisi served Attorney General Mohammad Ja’far Montazeri and the Judiciary’s Deputy for International Affairs Ali Baqeri with the directive on Monday, ordering diligent efforts to have those on the run brought to justice, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The directive advised “those who are subject to accusations to surrender themselves to justice, and know this that they will not be able to escape the grasp of justice.”

The order came as some of those suspected by Iranian authorities of involvement in corruption cases have reportedly fled to Western countries such as Canada. Pictures have emerged apparently showing the suspects going about their daily affairs in those countries, outraging authorities and the public alike.

Raisi asked how come some of the countries that lay claim to fighting organized corruption and money laundering have come to provide refuge to criminals and corruption suspects.

He called the trend one of the examples of “injustice and oppression against humanity.”

He also urged the West to put an end to injustice, reiterating that suppression of people is futile. Raisi also blasted the international communities for their silence against suppressing the protests in the U.S. and some European states, noting that it is strange that those who claim they are flag-bearers of human rights and cry foul for transfer of a prisoner from one prison to another prison have remained silent on the murder of George Floyd and arrests of thousands in the U.S.

He reiterated that cry for justice is heralded in any part of the world and it is paving the ground for a universal movement against tyranny and injustice and it can be a beginning for the collapse of the arrogance.

Raisi added the Supreme Leader is the flag-bearer of justice-seeking and he follows the late Imam Khomeini’s path.

He also pointed to the Judiciary’s measures to stop corruption and offences in its body, adding that the number of offences in the Judiciary has dropped to less than one percent as the Judiciary is serious in fighting any corruption and offence in its body to gain people’s trust.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

Commenting on the economy, Raisi said it is very important to support manufacturing and production.

He added: “We must support the manufacturing sector and we must not turn into a purely consumer society. We must rein-in consumption, and our consumption must be moderate.”

“We must also control inflation and not allow prices to rise unjustifiably. Price increases must be reasonable. It is also essential to protect the rights of the consumer and the rights of the public,” Raisi noted.

Turning to corruption and fraud, the head of the Judiciary advised senior managers and officials to always promote morality, decency, and ethics in their respective organizations and government-owned institutions, since this is the sure way of reducing crime, corruption, fraud and the like.

Raisi also warned that Iran’s enemies want to spread corruption, fraud, lawlessness and vice in Iranian society. He pointedly added: “It is essential to resist the enemy and not allow it to weaken the country.”

Commenting on the media, he said Iranian media, particularly the national broadcasting media, must ensure that the public is aware that justice is being done in this country and the laws of the land are being upheld.

“The media must report this important fact”, he said.

He also called the society to feel responsible regarding joining good and forbidding wrong, adding that if the society is passive against enjoining good and forbidding wrong, it will be a dead society.

Hojjatoleslam Raisi added that if feeling responsibility loses its stance and color in the society, the ground will be paved for spread of corruption, immorality and any type of cruelties.

He reiterated that rule of law and creating hope in the society is one of the important issues in enjoining good, noting that today all should work together to protect the Islamic establishment.

He once again emphasized that the Judiciary is determined to spread justice in the society and it will fight the vices.

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He criticized the countries which accuse Iran of violating human rights, saying Iran’s decisions would not be impacted by foreign pressure, ISNA reported.

Officials in Tehran has described U.S. sanctions against Iranian people as “economic war” and “economic terrorism”. President Rouhani has said since the sanctions include ordinary people they are examples of “crimes against humanity”.

‘Economic terrorism purposefully violates rights of Iranians’

The top judge went on to say that sanctions are violating the rights of the Iranian people.

“Today, the Iranian people are faced with a purposeful violation of their rights by the U.S. through a new kind of economic terrorism,” the top judge said, pointing to the harsh U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

Raisi further said the human rights violators claim to be advocates of human rights and freedom.

“The U.S. and its allies in the Middle East are the main violators of human rights in Palestine and Yemen,” he stated.

The Saudi-led coalition has caused an indescribable human disaster in modern history in Yemen by using American, French, British and German weapons.

Contrary to repeated farcical remarks that Iran is seeking the annihilation of Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu and some other Zealots, Iran has called for a referendum in the occupied Palestine to end more than 70 years of violence.

This policy was echoed again by Judiciary chief Raisi, saying the Islamic Republic supports a solution based on democracy in the occupied territories according to which the native inhabitants including Muslims, Christians and Jews can determine their fate.

The post Raisi: Rights violators claim to be rights advocates appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The newly-come Judiciary chief’s call was made in particular reference to a recent terrorist attack in New Zealand.

A gunman killed 50 people and wounded more than 40 during Friday prayers at two New Zealand mosques last week in the country’s worst ever mass shooting.

The assailant broadcast livestream footage on Facebook of the attack on one mosque in the city of Christchurch, mirroring the carnage played out in video games, after publishing a “manifesto” in which he denounced immigrants, calling them “invaders”.

“The Judiciary of the Islamic Republic, as the country’s highest judicial body which has been the main victim of terrorism and violence in the world, is ready to be the centerpiece of this movement and the coordinator of worldwide efforts in this area,” Raisi added.

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