What is Ebrahim Raisi's identity?
A helicopter with Iran's President Raisi and Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian is shown to have crashed in the northwest region of the country. Backers of the government are asking citizens to pray for the nation's chief. Yet, who was the second most impactful individual in Iran?
Ebrahim Raisi, appointed as Iran's president since August 2021, is perceived as a conservative hardliner. With Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's favor, he won the 2021 presidential election with approximately 62% of the votes. The 63-year-old religious leader officially succeeded the more moderate Hassan Ruhani, who was barred from running for a third term.
Originated in 1960 in Mashad, northern Iran, Raisi is said to be highly influential within the Islamic structure. He also sustains a close connection with Khamenei. Under the constitution, Raisi serves as the head of government, while the real power rests in the hands of the head of state, Khamenei, who has the ultimate authority in all strategic matters.
Raisi spent over three decades working in the legal system and was named head of the judicature in 2019. He is believed to have been responsible for several arrests and executions of political opponents in his previous role as public prosecutor.
During the autumn of 2022, the death of an Iranian Kurdish woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, led to widespread protests in the nation. The young woman passed away in police custody after being apprehended by the morality police for not adhering to Islamic dress codes. Consequently, tens of thousands took to the streets across the country in opposition to the government's repressive direction and the Islamic rule.
The authorities reacted violently and imposed severe reprisals. Thousands of protesters were taken into custody, many were killed during the demonstrations, and several were sentenced to death. These disturbances severely impacted the regime's leadership. Raisi blamed external factors for exacerbating the turmoil.
The EU imposed sanctions against Iran on several occasions- for human rights abuses, as well as for its support of Russia's war against Ukraine. Meanwhile, concerns about Iran becoming a nuclear nation are growing. International discussions regarding Tehran's nuclear program have reached a deadlock. Under Raisi's administration, relations with the West have worsened.
Iran is hostile to Israel. In April, Iran assaulted Israel directly, not through regional proxies like the Houthis in Yemen or the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, but directly - as reprisal for the bombing of the Iranian embassy site in Syria's capital Damascus. This assault also ignited concerns of heightened tensions in the Middle East.
Raisi was married to Jamileh Alamolhada, an educator at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. The married couple welcomed two daughters.
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Ebrahim Raisi, the second person in Iran with significant influence, was aboard the crashed plane along with the Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian. Despite the plane crash, Raisi's role in Iran's political landscape remains pivotal, as he continues to navigate the country's complex geopolitical landscape, including tensions with the West and Israel.
Source: www.ntv.de
