France ‘takes note’ of Raisi election as Iran president

France said Monday that it had taken note of the victory of hardline judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi in Iran’s presidential elections, while underlining its worries over human rights in the country.

In a terse statement that stopped short of congratulating Raisi over his victory in Friday’s vote, the French foreign ministry said it remained “fully mobilized” to implement the 2015 deal on the Iranian nuclear program.

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“France takes note of the election of Mr Ebrahim Raisi to the presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We reaffirm the concerns we have regularly expressed regarding the human rights situation in Iran,” it added.

It said France continued to follow the cases of French citizens held in the country, in reference to the jailed tourist Benjamin Briere and the academic Fariba Adelkhah, who is under house arrest.

Activists have said the elections were held under conditions that were far from fair after key candidates were barred in pre-poll vetting.

Meanwhile international rights groups have accused Raisi of playing a role in the 1988 executions of thousands of opposition prisoners.

The president-elect said Monday that he had “always” defended human rights.

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