Ebrahim Raisi

Early Life and Judicial Career

Ebrahim Raisi was born on 14 December 1960 into a clerical family in Mashhad, Iran. His father died when he was five, and he began seminary studies in Qom at the age of 15. From 1981 he served as prosecutor of Karaj and then of Hamadan, and in 1985 he became deputy prosecutor of Tehran.

In 1988, as deputy prosecutor of Tehran, Raisi sat on the city's commission dealing with political prisoners. That year Iran executed large numbers of political prisoners in jails across the country — thousands, according to Amnesty International — and international human rights organisations and UN special rapporteurs accused those involved of crimes against humanity. In a 2018 lecture Raisi did not deny having attended the commission's meetings. In 2019 the United States sanctioned him over human rights abuses.

Raisi went on to serve as prosecutor of Tehran (1989–1994), first deputy chief justice (2004–2014) and attorney general (2014–2016). From 2016 to 2019 he headed Astan Quds Razavi, the foundation that manages the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, and from 2019 to 2021 he was Iran's chief justice. He was also elected to the Assembly of Experts from 2006.

Presidency

Raisi first ran for president in 2017, losing to the incumbent Hassan Rouhani with about 38% of the vote. In 2021 he won with about 63% on a turnout of 48.8% and took office that August, regarded as a hardliner. During his term talks on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal stalled, and the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in September 2022 set off nationwide protests. Iran joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS under his presidency.

From 14 to 16 February 2023 Raisi paid a state visit to China, holding talks with Xi Jinping; the two presidents witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in agriculture, trade, tourism and other fields. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, later said the visit and Raisi's talks with Xi had paved the way for new negotiations between the Iranian and Saudi delegations, and on 10 March 2023 Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed in Beijing to restore diplomatic relations. On 11 November Raisi travelled to Riyadh for an extraordinary OIC meeting on Gaza and met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — the first visit to Saudi Arabia by an Iranian president in 11 years.

Death

On 19 May 2024 Raisi's helicopter crashed in Iran's East Azerbaijan province, killing him, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and others. He was the second Iranian president to die in office, after Mohammad-Ali Rajai was killed in a 1981 bombing, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared five days of national mourning. On 20 May Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence to First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber, saying Raisi had worked to consolidate the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership and that his death was a great loss to the Iranian people and had cost the Chinese people a good friend.