Is Khamenei’s praise for Raisi a message to the new president?

In a meeting with the outgoing government, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei praised the late President Ebrahim Raisi, saying he was “an exemplary management model” for all officials.

Khamenei’s Statements The president-elect said he would not propose any grand plans or implement Khamenei’s vision, but he also criticized some of the policies and actions carried out by Raisi’s administration over the past three years.

At the meeting, which was the last meeting of members of the Raisi government, Khamenei described the administration as the “government of work, hope and progress.” He said, “Martyr Raisi was truly optimistic about the future and determined to achieve the goals set.”

Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line cleric who was elected in June 2021 in a highly orchestrated election, was killed in a helicopter crash in May. So far, no clear cause has been provided for the incident.

Khamenei’s praise for former president contradicts his administration’s statements poor record in economic management and his conduct during the 2022-23 anti-government protests, when security forces killed about 550 civilians, injured hundreds more and arrested 22,000 people.

In less than three years, the Iranian currency has doubled its losses, collapsing to more than 600,000 rials to the dollar. This has worsened inflation, especially for food and consumer goods, while the government has been unable to significantly increase wages. The monthly salary of ordinary workers has remained below $200, impoverishing tens of millions of people.

When Raisi was elected, there was hope for a nuclear deal with the United States and European powers that could have lifted crippling US sanctions. Negotiations had been underway in Vienna since April 2021, but they were interrupted for nearly six months. When they resumed in November of that year, they ultimately collapsed in 2022.

Iran is facing a deepening economic crisis. Although Khamenei is largely the head of state and the president has little say in strategic matters, Raisi has praised the supreme leader’s wisdom and continued to advocate self-reliance and closer relations with Russia and China.

This is perhaps what Khamenei appreciated most when he praised Raisi’s deep confidence in national capabilities on Sunday. “We have spoken to officials about this on several occasions, and no one disagreed with this assessment; however, one could see that Raisi sincerely believed in national capabilities and the ability to solve the country’s problems.”

However, the fact is that even many Conservative politicians began to criticize Raisi early in his term for mismanagement and failure to make the changes needed to ease economic pressures.

While many Iranians harbor suspicions about the helicopter crash that killed Raisi, Khamenei and his ideology are doing everything they can to portray him as a hero and a martyr.

In his speech, Khamenei even tried to give Raisi credit for a project to transport seawater to Iran’s arid interior, an ambitious project that predates the outgoing president and will likely remain on paper for years.

In the concluding part of his speech, Khamenei delivered remarks that many will interpret as a message to the new president: “These characteristics have been highlighted to set a model and be recorded in history, demonstrating that the head of the executive branch can possess a set of intellectual, sincere and practical virtues and can pursue them both in governance and in personal conduct.”