Raeisi’s rivals quick to offer him congrats on sweeping win in presidential election

Three candidates in Iran’s 2021 presidential election have been quick to offer congratulations to Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi on his sweeping victory in the four-man race.

In separate messages issued prior to the release of the preliminary results on Saturday, Seyyed Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi, Nasser Hemmati, and Mohsen Rezaei conceded defeat and wished fellow candidate Raeisi success in his four-year term.

In a tweet, Rezaei congratulated Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Iranian nation and the president-elect on the “epic turnout” in the Friday election.

“God willing, the definitive election of my dear brother Ayatollah Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi will herald the establishment of a powerful, popular administration to resolve the country’s problems,” he said.

Nasser Hemmati, the only Reformist candidate in the election, also took to his Instagram page to offer felicitations to Raeisi.

In a post addressed to Raeisi, Hemmati said, “The proud and noble Iranian people rightly expect to live lives filled with hope, peace, and prosperity,” expressing hope that his incoming administration will act on the domestic and international fronts to improve the livelihoods of the Iranians under the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei.

In turn, Ghazizadeh-Hashemi hailed the nation’s passionate turnout in the election, despite the coronavirus outbreak, their complaints about the current administration’s performance, and the propaganda campaign launched by foreign media.

He congratulated the Leader on the “epic” election turnout and wished the president-elect success, while backing the people’s vote.

According to the preliminary results, with around 90% of the votes counted, Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi garnered over 17.8 million votes, followed by Mohsen Rezaei who secured 3.3 million. Nasser Hemmati secured 2.4 million votes, and Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi won almost one million votes.