She said The Guardian newspaper In its editorial, the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, manipulated the electoral process, which might guarantee the victory of Chief Justice Ibrahim Raisi, in the elections next Friday, in order to achieve his dream of building an “Islamic society free of secular and Western impurities.”

She added that the victory of the hardliners in Iran in the elections means that the Iranians will not be the only ones who will suffer, but that the victory will have a profound impact on world peace.

She added that the embattled Iranian voter has no choice in the presidential elections on Friday. Supreme Leader Khamenei, a conservative staunchly anti-Western, manipulated the electoral contest, ensuring that a similar figure, Ibrahim Raisi, the chief justice, would win.

The newspaper believes that “the predetermined results will have an impact on Iran and the international community. It could have a disturbing impact on the ongoing talks in Vienna to limit Iran’s nuclear efforts, on peaceful relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and the West, on the ongoing wars in Yemen and Syria, on the geopolitical balance, and most importantly on Iranian citizens.”

The newspaper comments that “the Iranians have never benefited from the fundamentalists who hijacked the Islamic revolution in 1979. This extraordinary country, rich in human talent, culture, history and resources, was unfortunately mismanaged.”

She said: “Since the last presidential election in 2017, things have gone from bad to worse, and this is due to the futility and corruption of the leadership and American hatred.

US President Donald Trump undermined moderate President Hassan Rouhani’s efforts to improve his country’s relations with the West, when Trump decided in 2018 to exit the nuclear agreement, and imposed punitive measures on Tehran that strengthened the hardliners who control a number of important ministries and the Revolutionary Guards.

Protests over ongoing economic problems were met with deadly crackdowns on protesters and civil society activists, particularly in 2019. Executions and imprisonment of political opponents increased and anti-Western sentiment increased, especially the dual citizenship campaign, which was represented by the main treatment of British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

All this affected democratic participation, particularly among Iranian youth who aspire to positive changes. It is expected that the voter turnout will not exceed 40%, as social media platforms have called for a boycott of the elections.

The hashtag “I will never vote” has spread. Although low participation in the electoral process may affect the credibility of the system, sleep will not fly from the eyes of the militants.

The newspaper comments that Khamenei, the 82-year-old who has held the position of supreme leader since 1989, is approaching, by manipulating the elections, the achievement of an “Islamic society” that is religiously and ideologically committed and free of secular and Western pollutants.

“All of this aims to present Iran as an example for Muslim-majority countries,” she said. His aides speak of the need to purge the revolution.

The newspaper warns that “the old man’s dreams are extreme. If his student Raisi wins, he is expected to fill the government with his supporters from the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij. There will be no hope for a fresh start with Europe and Saudi Arabia after encouraging beginnings in recent contacts. Instead, Iran will go the way of both China and Russia.”

“The risks of a Raisi victory will affect the ongoing talks between the United States and Iran in Vienna to revive the nuclear agreement,” she said. The United States has offered Iran a partial lifting of sanctions in return for a return and compliance with the terms of the 2015 agreement, but a last-minute success for Rouhani will not rejoice the hard-line camp in Iran, in the same way that hawks in Israel who will express their happiness at the collapse of talks will not rejoice.

The newspaper believes that the exit of the Israeli Prime Minister from power will not change the tension, as any government in Israel will remain committed to the shadow war, the effects of which appeared in the attacks on the Natanz nuclear reactor. If the extremist wing emerges victorious on Friday, it is expected to continue to pressure Israel through proxy groups in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza.

“Rocket attacks by Shiite groups against US forces point to another area of ​​escalation,” she said. These fears may have been exaggerated, but the latest farce revealed an uncomfortable truth: for all the hostility directed at it from abroad, Iran remains its own worst enemy.