Improving Iran’s ailing economy will be Raisi’s priority

Economic considerations will guide the incoming Raisi administration’s domestic and international policies.

Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the art of economic management has never been the strongest side of the country’s leaders. Iranian politicians, and especially those from conservative circles, always believed Iran’s stability and survival to be primarily dependent on political and ideological factors. Thus,  they have been reluctant to focus their efforts, and political rhetoric, on economic recovery and development beyond the minimally needed level. The founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, even famously said the 1978-79 Islamic Revolution was about great ideas, and “not about the price of watermelons”. On June 18, conservative judiciary head Ebrahim Raisi was elected Iran’s eighth president. While in many ways Raisi is a stereotypical conservative politician who puts ideology before any economic concern, all signs indicate that he will be unable to treat the economy as an afterthought during his tenure.