On 19th May 2024 Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi took a trip to the country’s border with Azerbaijan, it was an important visit to inaugurate a dam and hydroelectric plant built along the country’s river border.
After the conclusion of his visit while returning to Iran alarm was rang when the country’s interior minister announced the President’s aircraft had experienced a hard landing and communication had been lost, after hours of search with aid from the Turkish authorities the wreckage was located in a mountainous area in Northwestern Iran with no survivors among those who were on board, including the President Ebrahim Raisi and Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
This came as a shock not only to Iran but the world. A 5 days national mourning was declared by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in their honour.
Below are 5 Facts about the late President Ebrahim Raisi and his role in the country’s affairs
1. He was thought to be a different President from his predecessors with his role as President almost turned into a ceremonial one only paying heed to the Supreme Leader.
He did not appear to make efforts in reconciliation with the west like the past presidents did. Raisi was a political ally to Ali Khamenei who is the supreme leader and most powerful authority in Iran and he had been largely seen as a successor to the position of the Supreme Leader.
2. Raisi was one of the most short lived Presidents in the country and the second President to have died in office the first being Mohammed- Ali Rajal, who died in a 1981 bombing.
Raisi was appointed as president of Iran on 3rd August 2021 he sadly did not make it to the third year of his tenure.
3. Raisi had been accused and investigated on crimes against humanity by international human rights organizations and the United Nations Social rapporteurs.
In 2019, he was sanctioned by the US after the treasury department accused him of participating in the 1998 Iranian mass execution of political prisoners.
4. Before his appointment as the 8th President of Iran, Raisi has held many political offices. He was the country’s General Inspection Officer(1994-2004), 2nd First Deputy Chief Justice of Iran(2004-2014), Member of the assembly of experts(2016-2024),
Prosecutor General of Iran(2014-2016), and the 7th Chief Justice of Iran(2019-2021).
5. His political views were considered to be ultra-conservative, he strongly supported sex segregation.
During his tenure Raisi signed orders creating stricter hijab restrictions for women in Iran, he was also in support of the revision of the internet and censorship of the western culture in Iran.
The reaction to his death is divided between the supporters of the regime who are mourning him and those who opposed him and his style of governance.
With the sudden demise of President Ebrahim Raisi, elections are to be held in the next 50 days to welcome in a new president, now the world awaits to see what is next for Iran.
