Iran and the region prepare for hardline President-elect Raeisi

Never has an Iranian presidential victory been so widely predicted, reflecting the supreme leader’s efforts to exert an even tighter grip. The Islamic Republic’s incoming eighth president faces formidable domestic and international challenges, with his task made no easier by the relatively weak mandate given by a heavily-engineered election. Ebrahim Raeisi is undoubtedly hard line, and will maintain Iran’s missile and other military build-up despite the cost but this does not necessarily mean the JCPOA nuclear deal is dead.