Iranian presidential candidate: US should fear us

Raisi called for Iran to use force to ward off possible US pressure.  

A candidate in Iran’s upcoming presidential election says the US should be made to fear Iran, so that it will back down on sanctions and threats.

Ebrahim Raisi told a state TV talk show Wednesday that “today Americans are afraid of the word Iran,” saying that “this is the solution. The solution is not backing down. We must force them to retreat.”

Raisi is challenging the incumbent, Hassan Rouhani, who has tried to improve relations with the West and whose government reached the controversial nuclear agreement with world powers.

Rouhani is widely seen as the front-runner in next month’s election, but Raisi is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and has strong relations with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) security apparatuses and judicial authority.

Raisi approved the execution of thousands of prisoners in 1988, when he was a member of the Commission of Death that was tasked with eliminating political prisoners who opposed the regime, Al-Arabiya reported on Wednesday.

“Raisi should be tried for committing these hideous crimes, so how can he aspire to become president?” asked Hadi Qaimi, head of a campaign to defend human rights in Iran.

By: AP and World Israel News Staff