Who is Ebrahim Raisi, the missing president of Iran?

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s condition remains unknown after his helicopter crashed Sunday in the rural and mountainous border region between Iran and western Azerbaijan.

Iranian state media IRINN reported that as of 1 a.m. local time on Monday, about 12 hours after the crash, the crash site had not yet been located, and search and rescue efforts were difficult as the night coincided with heavy fog and rough weather. It was reported that there was. .

Raisi had met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border early Sunday during a diplomatic visit.

Who is the missing Iranian president who is currently the focus of a national emergency search operation?

Legal career and political connections

Mr. Raisi comes from a prominent family in the metropolis of Mashhad and entered the legal profession immediately after completing his education in the 1980s. He was appointed deputy prosecutor in Tehran and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming an ally of Ruhollah Khomeini.

Mr. Khomeini named Mr. Raisi as one of the four leaders of the 1988 mass political execution, considered the country’s largest purge of political opponents. The total number of political prisoners executed is estimated to be around 3,000 up to 30,000.

Raisi continued to rise through the ranks, becoming Tehran’s chief prosecutor and, in the 1990s, the country’s inspector general.

After Khomeini’s death and Khamenei’s accession to the throne, Raisi positioned himself as a close ally of the new supreme leader. This partnership led to his appointment as Iran’s attorney general in 2014.

presidential ambition

Raisi used his national position as attorney general to launch an underdog presidential race against former President Hassan Rouhani in 2017. Raisi’s supporters see him as an anti-corruption candidate, a conservative hardliner and a close follower of the popular Ayatollah Khamenei. He quickly gained momentum in the race, but fell short at the polling booths.

Raisi came in second place with about 38% of the votes. He later claimed that the election may have been rigged against him.

After a failed 2017 election, Raisi was appointed as Iran’s chief justice in 2019, the country’s highest judicial office. He remained in that position until running for president again in 2021.

Raisi won the presidential election for the second time, but outside observers theorize that Khamenei may have rigged the election to favor his allies. He is seen as the front-runner to succeed Ayatollah Khamenei as supreme leader, and the presidency is largely seen as a mandatory role.

Relationship with the United States and tenure

In his 2021 inaugural address, Raisi said he would work to lift U.S. sanctions on Iran and hinted at support for the past nuclear control treaty. He also assured that the country’s nuclear program is only peaceful and has nothing to do with weapons production.

In foreign policy, after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Raisi supported the Taliban government and supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Raisi’s presidency was rocked last year by massive civil unrest protesting the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman allegedly killed by the country’s morality police.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Iranian government has consistently criticized Israel, and last month launched a large-scale missile attack against the country in response to an Israeli attack on its diplomatic mission in Syria.