The results of Iran’s presidential elections are now clear: with 62% of ballots, hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi will serve as president for the next four years. However, the elections seem to have no clear winner: neither for the opposition, which favored a boycott, nor the Islamic Republic establishment, which owes the ascendancy of its candidate to former US president Donald Trump.

The establishment candidate

The Iranian political establishment cleared the way for Raisi by having the Guardian Council bar prominent Reformists and moderates from the presidential race...