Who Was President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran?

Ebrahim Raisi, 63, a hard-line non secular cleric, was elected president of Iran in 2021. In his tenure as president, he oversaw a technique to broaden his nation’s regional affect — backing militant proxies throughout the Middle East, expediting the nation’s nuclear program and bringing the nation to the brink of warfare with Israel.

But in the identical interval, Iran skilled a few of its largest antigovernment protests in many years and a extreme financial downturn pushed by worldwide sanctions and excessive unemployment.

Mr. Raisi had been seen as a attainable successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme chief, the very best political and non secular place within the Islamic republic.

Mr. Raisi’s background

Mr. Raisi, born within the jap metropolis of Mashhad in 1960 to a devoutly non secular household, was swept up within the fervor of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, which toppled the nation’s monarchy in 1979.

As a non secular scholar in Iran’s theocratic authorities and a protégé of Ayatollah Khamenei, Mr. Raisi climbed the ranks of the judiciary, serving as a prosecutor in a number of cities.

After being named Iran’s high judge, he was believed to have been a part of a small committee that ordered the executions of 1000’s of political dissidents in 1988.

Accused of many years of human rights violations, Mr. Raisi had been the topic of punishing sanctions by the United States.

His presidency

During Mr. Raisi’s presidency, Iran confronted massive antigovernment protests after the dying of a younger Kurdish lady, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. The authorities responded with a brutal crackdown that included killings and executions.

Tehran has additionally continued its uranium-enrichment program and gone forward with its ballistic missile program.

A yearslong shadow warfare with Israel burst into the open final month after Iran launched a salvo of lots of of missiles and drones at Israel. That assault resulted from escalating tensions between the 2 international locations after Hamas, an Iranian-backed militant group, raided Israel on Oct. 7.

In the identical interval, Iran has additionally emerged as Russia’s trusted overseas provider of army drones. Last yr Iran made a cope with Saudi Arabia and restored diplomatic relationships.