Ebrahim Raisi Biography
Ebrahim Raisolsadati (Persian: ابراهیم رئیسالساداتی; 14 December 1960 – 19 May 2024 Commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi (Persian: ابراهیم رئیسی), was an Iranian politician.
He is a Principlist and a Muslim judge who became president following the 2021 election.
Raisi held many posts in Iran’s legal system, including Deputy Chief Justice (2004-2014), Attorney General (2014-2016), and Chief Justice (2019-2021).
In the 1980s and 1990s, he served as Tehran’s prosecutor and deputy prosecutor. He was the Custodian and Chairman of Astan Quds Razavi, a bonyad, from 2016 to 2019.
He was initially elected to the South Khorasan Province Assembly of Experts in the 2006 election.
Ahmad Alamolhoda, Mashhad’s Friday prayer leader and Grand Imam of the Imam Reza shrine, was his father-in-law.
Raisi ran for president in 2017 as the conservative Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces candidate but lost to moderate incumbent Hassan Rouhani by 57% to 38.3%.
Known as the “butcher of Tehran,” he was one of four members of the prosecution committee that executed hundreds of political detainees in Iran in 1988, earning him the moniker “death committee.”
He was sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control under Executive Order 13876. International human rights organizations and UN special rapporteurs have accused him of crimes against humanity.
Raisi was elected president for the second time in 2021, winning 62.9% of the vote and succeeding Hassan Rouhani. Many analysts believe that the 2021 Iranian presidential election was rigged in favor of Raisi, a supporter of Ali Khamenei.
Raisi was widely regarded as the contender to succeed Khamenei as Supreme Leader.
However, because he died in the 2024 Varzaqan helicopter tragedy, this never happened.
Raisi, a hardliner in Iranian politics, presided over gridlock in negotiations with the United States over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and large-scale protests across the country in late 2022, sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death on September 16.
During Raisi’s tenure, Iran increased uranium enrichment, hampered international inspections, and supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Iran also committed missile and drone attacks on Israel during the Gaza battle, and it continued to arm proxy forces such as Hezbollah and the Houthi movement.
On May 19, 2024, Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials were killed in a helicopter crash near Varzaqan. The state-run media later confirmed their deaths.
Ebrahim Raisi, shortly before his death, 19 May 2024 |
|
| 8th President of Iran | |
|---|---|
| In office 3 August 2021 – 19 May 2024 |
|
| Supreme Leader | Ali Khamenei |
| First Vice President | Muhammad Mukhbar |
| Preceded by | Hassan Rouhani |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Mokhber (acting) |
| 7th Chief Justice of Iran | |
| In office 7 March 2019 – 1 July 2021 |
|
| Appointed by | Ali Khamenei |
| First Deputy | Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i |
| Preceded by | Sadeq Larijani |
| Succeeded by | Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i |
| Member of Expediency Discernment Council | |
| In office 14 August 2017 – 7 March 2019 |
|
| Appointed by | Ali Khamenei |
| Chairman |
|
| Prosecutor-General of Iran | |
| In office 23 August 2014 – 1 April 2016 |
|
| Appointed by | Sadeq Larijani |
| Preceded by | Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Jafar Montazeri |
| Member of the Assembly of Experts | |
| In office 24 May 2016 – 19 May 2024 |
|
| Constituency | South Khorasan Province |
| Majority | 325,139 (80.0%) |
| In office 20 February 2007 – 21 May 2016 |
|
| Constituency | South Khorasan Province |
| Majority | 200,906 (68.6%) |
| 2nd First Deputy Chief Justice of Iran | |
| In office 27 July 2004 – 23 August 2014 |
|
| Chief Justice | Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Sadeq Larijani |
| Preceded by | Mohammad-Hadi Marvi |
| Succeeded by | Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i |
| Chairman of General Inspection Office | |
| In office 22 August 1994 – 9 August 2004 |
|
| Appointed by | Mohammad Yazdi |
| Preceded by | Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Niazi |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati
14 December 1960 |
| Died | 19 May 2024 (aged 63) Varzaqan, Iran |
| Cause of death | Helicopter crash |
| Political party | Combatant Clergy Association |
| Other political affiliations |
Islamic Republican Party (until 1987) |
| Spouse |
Jamileh Alamolhoda
(m. 1983) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Ahmad Alamolhoda (father-in-law) |
| Alma mater | Disputed: Shahid Motahari University Qom Seminary |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Government website Personal website (Persian) |
| Nickname | Butcher of Tehran |
Ebrahim Raisi Early Life and Education
Ebrahim Raisi was born on December 14, 1960, to a clerical family in Mashhad’s Noghan area. His father, Seyed Haji, died when he was five.
Raisi descended from Husayn ibn Ali (Hussaini) Sayyids and was related to Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin Sayyids.
Raisi completed his primary education at “Javadiyeh School” and subsequently enrolled in the Hawza (Islamic seminary). In 1975, he attended “Ayatollah Boroujerdi School” to pursue his education at Qom Seminary.
He claimed to have gotten a doctorate in private law from Motahari University, although this has been contested.
Ebrahim Raisi Clerical credentials
Raisi began his studies at the Qom Seminary at the age of 15.
He then decided to attend the Navvab school for a brief time.
After that, he attended Ayatollah Sayyed Muhammad Mousavi Nezhad School, where he studied while simultaneously teaching other pupils.
In 1976, he traveled to Qom to finish his studies at the Ayatollah Borujerdi School.
He attended classes taught by Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi, Morteza Motahhari, Abolghasem Khazali, Hossein Noori Hamedani, Ali Meshkini, and Morteza Pasandideh.
Raisi also transferred his “KharejeFeqh” (external Fiqh) to Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Mojtaba Tehrani.
According to Middle East Institute’s Alex Vatanka, Raisi’s “exact religious qualification” is a “sore point”. “For a while” previous to the Iranian media probe, he “referred to himself” as “Ayatollah” on his website.
However, according to Vatanka, the media “publicized his lack of formal religious education” and credentials, and Raisi stopped claiming to occupy the aforementioned position.
Following the probe and criticism, he “referred to himself as heat-of-Islam,” a clerical position exactly below that of the Ayatollah.
Raisi then declared himself an Ayatollah just before the 2021 presidential race.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s decree installing him as President refers to him as a hot-ol-Islam.
Ebrahim Raisi Judicial Career
In 1981, he was named Karaj’s prosecutor. Later, he was appointed Prosecutor of Hamadan and held both roles concurrently. He was active in two cities more than 300 kilometers apart.
Four months later, he was appointed Prosecutor of Hamadan Province.
Tehran deputy prosecutor
He was appointed Deputy Prosecutor of Tehran in 1985 and relocated to the capital.
After three years, in early 1988, he was brought to the attention of Ruhollah Khomeini and received special provisions (unrelated to the judiciary) from him to solve legal concerns in select provinces such as Lorestan, Semnan, and Kermanshah.
1988 executions
Hussein-Ali Montazeri identified Raisi as one of four individuals engaged in the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners.
Morteza Eshraghi, Tehran’s prosecutor, Hossein-Ali Nayeri, a judge, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the MOI’s representative in Evin, were all there.
The names of the first two individuals are stated in Khomeini’s decree. Pourmohammadi has denied his role, although Raisi has yet to comment publicly on the topic.
Because of its role in thousands of executions, this prosecution group has been colloquially termed the ‘death committee’.
The 1988 killings of Iranian political prisoners were a series of state-sponsored executions of political prisoners across Iran that began on July 19, 1988, and lasted for five months.
The majority of people slaughtered were People’s Mujahedin of Iran sympathizers, although other leftist factions, such as the Fedaian and the Tudeh Party of Iran (Communist Party), were also executed.
According to Amnesty International, “thousands of political dissidents were systematically subjected to enforced disappearance in Iranian detention facilities across the country and extrajudicially executed under an order issued by the Supreme Leader of Iran and implemented throughout the country’s prisons.”
Many of those killed during this period were subjected to torture and other cruel, inhumane, or humiliating treatment or punishment.
The deaths have been described as a political purge unprecedented in modern Iranian history, both in terms of scale and coverup.
The exact number of convicts executed is still debated. According to Amnesty International, which interviewed dozens of relatives, the number is in the thousands; and then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini’s deputy, Hussein-Ali Montazeri, put the number between 2,800 and 3,800 in his memoirs, but an alternative estimate suggests that the number exceeded 30,000.
Due to the high number, convicts were placed into forklift trucks in groups of six and hanged from cranes at half-hour intervals.
Senior positions
Following Khomeini’s death and the election of Ali Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader, Raisi was appointed Tehran prosecutor by newly appointed Chief Justice Mohammad Yazdi.
He was in office for five years, from 1989 to 1994. In 1994, he was named head of the General Inspection Office.
Raisi was appointed as Iran’s First Deputy Chief Justice by Chief Justice Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi in 2004 and served until 2014.
He maintained his position during Sadeq Larijani’s first term as Chief Justice. He was later appointed as Iran’s Attorney-General in 2014, a position he maintained until 2016 when he resigned to become Chairman of Astan Quds Razavi.
He also served as Special Clerical Court prosecutor at the decree of the Supreme Leader, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, from 2012 until 2021.
Other positions
Raisi was on the board of trustees for the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order for ten years, as ordered by Seyyed Ali Khamenei. He was also on the “Supreme Selection Board”.
He founded “Fatemeh Al-Zahra Seminary” (in Tehran) and served as the first secretary of the headquarters responsible for revitalizing the country’s enjoining good and forbidding ill.
He was named the prosecutor of Hamedan province and served there for three years, from 1982 to 1984.
His other executive and supervision responsibilities include membership in the “Supreme Council of Cyberspace”, “the Monetary and Credit Council”, and “the Anti-Corruption Headquarters”.
Astan Quds chairmanship
He took over as chairman of Astan Quds Razavi on March 7, 2016, following the death of his predecessor, Abbas Vaez-Tabasi, and served until 2019.
He was the second individual to hold this role since 1979.
In his appointment order, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei cited servicing the pilgrims of the holy site, especially poor people, and also serving nearby, especially the underprivileged and dispossessed, as two major obligations for Raisi.
Ebrahim Raisi 2017 presidential election
Raisi was selected as one of the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces’ (JAMNA) presidential candidates in February 2017.
His candidacy was also backed by the Front for Islamic Revolutionary Stability.
He announced his nomination in a statement published on April 6, calling it his “religious and revolutionary responsibility to run,” noting the need for a “fundamental change in the country’s executive management” and a government that “fights poverty and corruption.”
He registered at the Ministry of Interior on April 14, 2017, stating that it is time to exercise citizenship rights, not just write an act.
On May 15, 2017, conservative contender Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf dropped his candidacy in favor of Raisi.
If Raisi is elected, Ghalibaf is expected to serve as his first vice president. They also participated in a campaign event in Tehran together.
Raisi received 15,786,449 votes out of 42,382,390, or 38.30% of the total. He came in second place behind incumbent President Rouhani.
He did not congratulate Rouhani on his re-election as president and requested the Guardian Council to examine “violations of the law” before and after the elections, with 100 pages of attached data.
Ebrahim Raisi Presidency
Raisi stood for president again in 2021, this time winning.
The election had a 48.8% turnout, with Raisi receiving 63% of the vote.
Out of 28.9 million votes, around 3.7 million were not counted, most likely due to blank or otherwise illegitimate protest ballots.
Many commentators believe that the 2021 Iranian presidential election was rigged to Raisi’s benefit.
Almost 600 candidates registered for the election, 40 of whom were female, with 7 men approved a month before the election by the Guardian Council (an unelected body that makes the final decision on candidate validity based on ‘the candidates’ qualifications’).
Three of the seven candidates were eventually removed from the race before the election.
Before withdrawing, reformist contender Mohsen Mehralizadeh implied that the result would be predetermined, claiming during a candidates’ TV discussion that the governing clerics had synchronized “the sun, moon, and the heavens to make one particular person the president,” according to The Economist.
Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was forbidden from running, declared in a video message that he would not vote, saying, “I do not want to have a part in this sin.”
Ebrahim Raisi Tenure
Raisi was named President of Iran on August 3, 2021, by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s decision.
During his inaugural speech, Raisi declared that his government would strive to lift US sanctions against Iran, but that it would not allow foreigners to dictate how the country’s economy is run.
He was sworn in before the Islamic Consultative Assembly on August 5 in a ceremony attended by around 260 officials from Iran and other nations.
In his speech, he stated that Iran was responsible for Middle Eastern stability, that he would resist foreign pressure on Iran while expanding its external relations, particularly with Iran’s neighbors, that he would support any diplomatic move to lift American sanctions, and that Iran’s nuclear program was only for peaceful purposes.
He also committed to endeavor to improve the quality of life for Iranians and preserve their human rights.
On August 8, Raisi selected Muhammad Mukhbar, the head of the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order Foundation, as Iran’s first vice president. Gholam-Hossein Esmaeili, a former judicial spokesman, was also named Raisi’s chief of staff.
On August 11, Raisi selected Masoud Mir Kazemi, a former Minister of Petroleum and Commerce, as Vice President and Head of the Plan and Budget Organization.
On the same day, he presented nominees for his government to the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
Raisi’s nomination of Ahmad Vahidi as Minister of Interior among his cabinet nominees was swiftly attacked by Argentina and Israel, with the former requesting his arrest via Interpol’s red notice for his suspected role in the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires.
The Argentine foreign ministry argued that Vahid’s designation was an “affront to the Argentine justice and the victims of the terrorist attack”
Mohammad Hosseini, former Minister of Culture, was appointed Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs by Raisi on August 20.
On August 25, the Islamic Consultative Assembly confirmed 18 of 19 of Raisi’s cabinet nominees, except Hossein Baghgoli, whom Raisi had appointed Minister of Education. Many of the cabinet appointments are sanctioned by the United States, and others are veterans of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces.
On August 25, Raisi selected Mohsen Rezaee, the former IRGC commander-in-chief, as Vice President for Economic Affairs.
He also appointed him as Secretary of the Supreme Council for Economic Coordination and Secretary of the Iranian Government’s Economic Committee.
On August 26, Argentina protested Rezaee’s appointment, sparking a new diplomatic spat with Iran.
Rezaee is also wanted in Argentina for alleged involvement in the AMIA bombings. Argentina “energetically” opposed his resignation and said that “Iran must cooperate with the investigation” and Rezaee’s designation was another “affront to the Argentine justice”
Raisi named Ensieh Khazali, former president of Al-Zahra University, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, and Mohammad Dehghan, Vice President for Legal Affairs, on September 1.
On September 4, he declared that Iran would continue talks over its nuclear program, which has been frozen since his election victory, but not due to pressure from Western countries.
Raisi appointed Meysam Latifi, former dean of Islamic education and management at Imam Sadiq University, as Vice President and Head of the Administrative and Recruitment Affairs Organization on September 5, and Sowlat Mortazavi as Vice President for Executive Affairs and Head of the Presidential Administration.
Farhad Rahbar, the former head of the Management and Planning Organization, has also been appointed President’s Assistant for Economic Affairs.
Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi was appointed Vice President and Head of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs on September 12th.
Imports of COVID-19 vaccination have increased since Raisi assumed office, with over 30 million doses imported during the Iranian month of Shahrivar, more than the vaccine imports since February 2021, and 13.4 million imported during the month of Mordad, when Raisi was sworn in.
On September 19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the shipment of an additional 60 million vaccinations.
Raisi indicated in a pre-recorded statement to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 21 that Iran wished to continue nuclear discussions.
He also remarked that the United States’ hegemony was being rejected around the world and criticized its sanctions on Iran as unjust.
Protests erupted on September 17, 2022, following Mahsa Amini’s death, and instability spread across the country.
President Raisi agreed to form a commission to examine the murder, but this did not alter the protests, as law enforcement personnel are reportedly fleeing from small communities owing to uncontrollable riots.
Ebrahim Raisi Foreign policy
After the Taliban took control of Kabul, Raisi remarked on August 16 that the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan presented an opportunity to stabilize the country, which Iran would support.
He also urged all parties to build an inclusive administration.
On September 4, he advocated for early elections to establish a new Afghan administration.
On September 18, he declared that Iran would not allow the establishment of any terrorist group, including the Islamic State, along its border with Afghanistan and use it to launch attacks on other countries. In addition, he urged the Taliban to build an inclusive administration.
Raisi threatened in April 2022 that if Israel makes “the slightest move” against Iran, his country’s military forces will hit it.
During an interview in September of that year, he condemned the Abraham Accords and referred to Israel as a “false regime”.
Raisi has threatened major Israeli cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa.
He has declared that the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem is the formation of a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea”.
Raisi has questioned if the Holocaust occurred.
Raisi drew substantial outrage during a September 19, 2022, appearance on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” when she suggested that while there are some indicators that the Holocaust occurred, more research is needed to investigate it.
This statement has been extensively condemned as Holocaust denial.
Raisi stated that his government’s aim at the meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was to develop strategic relations between Iran and Syria.
He condemned the Saudi-led embargo of Yemen and urged for a cease-fire.
According to Foreign Policy, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in March 2022, Raisi declared allegiance to Moscow.
Negotiations with the United States on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have stopped under Raisi, who accuses the Americans of “delaying and dragging their feet”.
Raisi visited China from February 14 to 17, 2023, and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During the meeting, the two countries inked 20 cooperation agreements and committed to further their relations.
During the meetings, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restore diplomatic ties cut in 2016, on March 10, after a deal mediated between the two nations by China during secret negotiations in Beijing.
Raisi hailed Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, claiming that they would lead to Israel’s annihilation.
He decried Israel’s activities in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas conflict and accused it of perpetrating genocide against Palestinians in Gaza “with the support of the United States and certain European countries.”
In January 2024, he prophesied that the Israel-Hamas war would lead to “Israel’s destruction.”
Raisi canceled a trip to Geneva in December 2023 due to allegations against him for his role in the torture and murder of inmates in 1988, for which he may face jail.
Ebrahim Raisi’s Political Views
Raisi was commonly thought to be a hardliner in Iranian politics.
He was a staunch supporter of sex segregation. In a 2014 interview about planned segregation in Tehran Municipality, he stated, “I think this is a good move because the majority of women do a better job in a relaxed atmosphere and fit is required.”
He supported the Islamization of colleges, the rewriting of the Internet, and the banning of Western culture.
Raisi claimed that economic penalties were an opportunity.
Raisi stated: “We will have guidance patrols but for managers.” He additionally stated: “If the government does well, the people will do well.”
He claimed that the amputation of thieves’ hands, which is based on a very stringent interpretation of Sharia, is one of “our honors” and that such punishments will not be restricted to the present but will continue in the future.
He argued that he should be honored and appreciated for his part in the 1988 Iranian mass murders of political detainees.
Raisi was one of nine Iranian officials sanctioned by the US Department of State in November 2019 for allegedly violating human rights.
He was sanctioned by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control.
in compliance with Executive Order 13876. International human rights organizations and UN special rapporteurs have accused him of crimes against humanity.
A formal request was made to arrest Raisi for crimes against humanity if he attended the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Scotland.
Ebrahim Raisi Economy
In 2017, Raisi stated, “I see the activation of a resistance economy as the only way to end poverty and deprivation in the country.”
He advocates for agricultural development over commercial retail, which “will eventually benefit foreign brands.”
In 2017, he promised to raise monthly state payments, which presently total Rls.450,000 per citizen, to combat corruption and generate six million jobs.
He stated, “Sanctions against Iran should be viewed as an opportunity for economic empowerment, and we should strengthen ourselves rather than fall short.”
When it comes to the lifting of sanctions, Raisi stated that “every government that takes office (to be elected), should lift the oppressive sanctions, and it must be pursued seriously; and the neutralization of sanctions should be on the agenda and we should not condition the economy; Neither the corona nor the flood nor the sanctions should have an impact.”
Ebrahim Raisi Women’s rights
Raisi stated in state-controlled media that “no one has the right to violate the freedom and rights of girls and women” and that “it is incomplete to talk about culture and economy without the role of women.”
He pointed out that “Women’s rights are God-given, and the government should not only not lose this right, but it should also create the conditions for it to flourish” and that “In many spaces, women’s role-playing is empty and women’s talent, creativity, initiative and innovation can be used a lot.”
Raisi signed directives that tightened hijab rules for women in Iran.
Ebrahim Raisi Intellectuals and artists
Raisi said: “The intellectual of the society understands before the others and watches the threats of the society and soon warns the society with his poetry and art and saves the society from falling asleep like a muezzin”; He believes that helping people in the arts and culture should be action-oriented rather than verbal.
He stated that teachers are the actual intellectuals of society and must observe and warn of danger. Teachers are the identifiers and civilizers of society.
Ebrahim Raisi Homosexuality
Raisi has made discriminating remarks regarding homosexuality, describing same-sex relationships as “savagery.” The Center for Human Rights in Iran claims that this type of language exacerbates discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ people in the country.
Potential successor as Supreme Leader
Raisi has been identified as “a favorite and possible successor” to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to multiple sources.
In 2019, Al Jazeera’s Saeid Golkar labeled Raisi “the most likely successor of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei” as Iran’s Supreme Leader.
In 2020, Dexter Filkins identified him as “frequently mentioned” as Khamenei’s successor.
Ebrahim Raisi Death
Raisi’s helicopter crashed in the village of Julfa, on the Azerbaijani border, on May 19, 2024.
He perished in the crash. After nearly half a day, The Economist reported that “It seems increasingly likely that Iran’s president is dead, along with the foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian,” noting that the crash site was in a remote area and that overnight temperatures were in the low single digits.
It was also previously said that the area was mountainous and misty.
Mehr News, Iran’s semi-official news agency, said that he was “martyred in the crash.”
Ebrahim Raisi’s Personal Life
Raisi married Jamileh Alamolhoda, the daughter of Ahmad Alamolhoda, Mashhad’s Friday Prayer Imam.
She is an associate professor at Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University and the president of the university’s Institute of Fundamental Studies in Science and Technology.
They have two daughters and two grandsons.
One of their daughters studied at Sharif University, the other at Tehran University.
Ebrahim Raisi Work
Raisi’s works include the following: The book “Lectures on the Rules of Jurisprudence” includes three volumes (in judicial, economic, and religious sections); Erse-Bi-Wares (inheritance without heirs).
Conflict of Principle and Appearance in Jurisprudence and Law
Ebrahim Raisi Electoral history
| Year | Election | Votes | % | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Assembly of Experts | 200,906 | 68.6% | 1st | Won |
| 2016 | Assembly of Experts |  325,139 |
80.0% |
1st | Won |
| 2017 | President | 15,835,794 | 38.28% | 2nd | Lost |
| 2021 | President | 18,021,945 |
62.90% |
1st | Won |
| 2024 | Assembly of Experts |  275,463 |
82.57% |
1st | Won |
Who is Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi?
Mr. Raisi has been viewed as a potential successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, the top political and religious position in the Islamic Republic.
Ebrahim Raisi, a 63-year-old hardline religious preacher, was elected president of Iran in 2021. During his presidency, he oversaw a campaign to increase his country’s regional power, which included supporting terrorist proxies around the Middle East, speeding the country’s nuclear program, and bringing the country to the verge of conflict with Israel.
However, during the same period, Iran suffered some of the worst anti-government rallies in decades, as well as a severe economic crisis caused by international sanctions and massive unemployment.
Mr. Raisi has been viewed as a potential successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, the top political and religious position in the Islamic Republic.
What’s Mr. Raisi’s background?
Mr. Raisi, who was born in the eastern city of Mashhad in 1960 to a devoutly religious family, was caught up in the fervor of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, which deposed the monarchy in 1979.
As a theological scholar in Iran’s theocratic government and a protégé of Ayatollah Khamenei, Mr. Raisi advanced through the ranks of the judiciary, serving as a prosecutor in various towns.
After being appointed Iran’s top judge, he is thought to have been a member of a tiny committee that ordered the death of hundreds of political dissidents in 1988.
Mr. Raisi faces harsh sanctions from the United States after being accused of decades of human rights crimes.
How has Mr. Raisi’s presidency fared?
During Mr. Raisi’s presidency, Iran had widespread antigovernment protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, in police custody. The government responded with a harsh crackdown that included murder and execution.
Tehran has also resumed its uranium enrichment program and moved on with its ballistic missile development.
Iran unleashed a barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones toward Israel this month, bringing a years-long shadow war to a head. That incident was the outcome of rising tensions between the two countries following the raid into Israel by Hamas, an Iranian-backed militant group, on October 7.
During the same period, Iran has emerged as Russia’s reliable foreign supplier of military drones. Last year, Iran reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia that restored diplomatic relations.
What is Ibrahim Raisi known for?
Ebrahim Raisolsadati (Persian: ابراهیم رئیسالساداتی; 14 December 1960 – 19 May 2024), generally known as Ebrahim Raisi (Persian: ابراهیم رئیسی [ebɾɒːˈhiːm-e raeʔiːˈsiː]), was an Iranian politician who served as Iran’s eighth president.
Who is the head of the Iranian government?
Raisi, is a hardline and religiously orthodox politician, with extensive ties to the judiciary and religious elite.
Where exactly did Raisi’s helicopter crash?
Several prominent Iranian officials, including Raisi, were killed in the helicopter accident in the Dizmar forest, located between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azerbaijan province.
