Seyyed Ebrahim Ra'isi
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were on board the helicopter that suffered a “hard landing” in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province 19 Mayy 2024, Iranian state media said. The news that Raisi’s helicopter had initially gone off radar before making a crash landing was reported by Iranian news agencies at around 13:00 GMT the previous day. There were reportedly three helicopters in the presidential convoy; the other two, carrying ministers and officials, reached their destinations safely.
Conflicting reports then surfaced, many of which turned out to be false. Initially, it was reported that the president and all others on board had survived and were en route to Tabriz in a motorcade. This was later contradicted; there was a later false claim that contact had been made with some passengers and that rescue teams were heading to the crash site. Conducting the operation to reach the site was extremely challenging due to adverse weather conditions and the difficult terrain of Iran's East Azerbaijan Province.
The General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces released a preliminary report on the investigation into the President’s helicopter crash, stating that it collided with the mountain terrain and caught fire. The statement, published on 23 May 2024, claimed that the helicopter was on its designated flight path at the time of the accident and that "no bullet marks or similar damage" were found on the aircraft parts found at the crash site. The report also mentioned that the Iranian public should not pay attention to what he referred to as “unverified and speculative comments”, especially those spread by “foreign media on social media.”
More than a week after the Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, was killed in the crash of his presidential helicopter, questions about the accident still remain without clear answers, according to a report by " Time " magazine. When the helicopter carrying the Iranian president disappeared, initial reports indicated that 9 passengers were on board, including two of Raisi’s bodyguards. But after the wreckage of the plane was finally found, the number of bodies became eight, according to the American magazine. Four days later, the secret of the second bodyguard was revealed in social media posts, as Jawad Meherbal was seen leaning sadly at the back of Raisi's memorial service. Press reports stated that his boss, Mehdi Mousavi, took him out of the president's helicopter at the last minute and onto one of the two other planes that were flying in the convoy during that day. After Mousavi died in the accident, his father told Iranian state television that he knew that his son would not return from this trip. The father said to the camera: “The night before the trip, he visited us. He said goodbye and got into his car but came back and stayed for 20 minutes. Then he left, but after a short drive he came back again and spent another 10 minutes with us. And the third time when he said goodbye, he kissed his mother’s feet and kissed me.” Then he bent down and kissed my feet. He continued: "Then I knew that he would go and never come back, and I knew that we would never meet again." The bodyguards were members of a special unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military force created in 1979 to replace the Iranian army, which was distrusted by the country's new theocracy. Their unit, known as "Ansar al-Mahdi," is responsible for the personal security of senior regime officials. To this end, its members carry phones specially equipped not only for secure communication, but also for location tracking. The device that Mousavi carried with him on the plane was supposed to be useful in determining the location of the helicopter, which crashed in a rugged area not far from Iran's border with Azerbaijan. However, it took rescuers 16 hours to reach the accident site. According to Time magazine, some of the questions have explanations: The transceiver on a plane carrying senior officials was said to have been turned off as a matter of routine, for fear of being tracked by hostile governments. When the helicopter went down on a wooded hilltop in northwest Iran, a passenger survived long enough to ring the pilot's cell phone, tried to describe the area, and died waiting for rescue. There are still other questions that can be answered through the technical investigation of the incident. Raisi's chief of staff, who was flying on another helicopter, said that shortly before it disappeared, the president's helicopter pilot ordered the other helicopters to ascend in order to rise above the clouds clinging to the hills. The other two planes did so, but the president's helicopter was never heard again. Some information, although interesting, remains open to interpretation in any direction. For example, Iranians are positioning the story of Mousavi's father as evidence of a conspiracy, which is unprecedented in a regime known for its ambiguity and brutality, according to Time magazine. Raisi's elderly mother added to the speculation when she appeared in a video, visibly upset and calling for the killing of "whoever killed him." Speculation immediately swirled whether besides bad weather conditions or possible technical troubles, an act of sabotage may have caused the crash. The Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The idea of a second shooter on the grassy knoll has been a central element of numerous conspiracy theories, positing that there was more than one person involved in the assassination. Lee Harvey Oswald’s connections to the Soviet Union and Cuba, as well as his mysterious activities in the months leading up to the assassination, fueled speculation that he was part of a larger conspiracy. The Warren Commission sought to avoid placing the blame on the Soviet Union or Cuba, as this could have required a military response against these countries. The perception of a coverup is fueled by inconsistencies, the withholding of information, and the subsequent revelations of further evidence suggesting a more complex scenario than the lone gunman theory.
The helicopter carrying the President crashed and Ibrahim Raisi lost his life. Why did the helicopters take off in foggy weather where visibility dropped to a few meters? Why did the vehicle carrying the President crash while nothing happened to the other two helicopters? Why couldn't the location of the helicopter that disappeared while traveling in a convoy be determined for hours? Is it true that the helicopter's route was changed? Why was the Akinci UCAV, which went from Turkey for search activities, misled for the first 45 minutes? Why couldn't Akinci make the land transfer for 55 minutes despite sharing the location? If the helicopter was going to make a forced landing, why was this not reported to the relevant authorities? Does the accident have anything to do with tensions with Israel? These are some of the questions that await answers from the accident.
Some saw the developments as a design operation for the aftermath of 85-year-old religious leader Ali Khamenei. Iranian religious leader Khamenei is experiencing health problems. The most powerful name to replace him was Reisi. According to one view, Reisi was not wanted in this equation and was eliminated. According to sources, one of the prominent names at this point is Ali Khamenei's 55-year-old son Mujtaba Khamenei. It is stated that Mohammed Baqir Galibaf, who currently serves as the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, is the most influential name in the equation.
The investigation into the cause of the crash has only begun, but one question that is certain to be considered is whether the helicopter was brought done by sabotage. This question looms large after Raisi ordered a successful drone and missile attack on Israel, carried out on April 13, 2024. Dimitri Lascaris discussed with Lebanon-based geopolitical analyst, Laith Marouf, the question of whether Israel might have brought down the helicopter in some manner. The three helicopters were all American made old helicopters that were pre Iranian Revolution.
Lascaris noted " looking at what has happened over the last month - the attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus - the response that came from President Raisi, he ordered that tax on Israel. m I believe there is no way that this is not an assassination. Okay, now the question uh is how will Iran deal with it.... all of us have a stake in what the Iranian government concludes about this because this could would very easily result in a catastrophic War the likes of which we haven't really experienced in our lifetime."
Marouf " this helicopter never was in Azarbaijni airspace. It was near the border, right on the border as I understand it, and Azerbijan is a close Ally of Israel and the United States and in fact um if I'm not mistaken there is one or more Israeli military bases there. Certainly you would think that Israeli intelligence and military personnel and American intelligence and military personnel are present on the territory of Azerbijan. I find it very curious that uh three helicopters left and two of them reached their destination safely despite the weather and the one that just happened to have the president of the country and the foreign minister crashed and the others didn't crash....
"The Israelis have a habit of assassinating the political leadership of their opposition as a Revenge tactic for their failures on the battlefield anytime the Israelis fail on the battlefield they assassinate a leader."
Posts on social media claimed that it was “shot down” with a “space laser” weapon. The allegations that the plane was targeted with a space laser weapon raise astonishment and are rare. Military experts spoke to Al-Hurra website, stressing that such allegations do not fall outside the framework of a “misinformation war” due to the truth of what happened. American military expert, Mark Kimmitt, confirms that “these allegations are completely baseless,” noting that “if you use an old-made mechanism, vehicle, or aircraft, in bad weather conditions,” you should expect an “accident” occur. Kimmitt, who was a former US Assistant Secretary of State for Military Affairs, said that “no country has the ability or capability to target a moving helicopter” with a weapon that uses a laser beam launched from space.
Jordanian military expert, Mamoun Abu Nawar, explains that this is “a war of misleading information that exploits events within the framework of political disputes via social media networks.” He said in an interview with Al-Hurra website that there are weapons that “use laser beams in a narrow range,” but in his initial assessment that “what happened was an accident.” He added, "Questions about the truth of what happened will only be answered by the wreckage of the plane, which will determine the real causes," stressing the need for the participation of international bodies or specialized international laboratories, "which will be able to solve the mystery of the plane's crash, as they can know what happened with extreme accuracy." He spoke jokingly about "the assumption of the existence of a space laser weapon," pointing out that the weather conditions in which the Iranian helicopter was flying indicated the presence of rain and an unstable atmosphere, which means that even "the ability of the alleged laser weapon to hit its target is impossible, as water molecules will scatter the laser beam.
It seems that allegations of the use of a "space nuclear weapon" are not the only misleading information that accompanied the news about the plane crash. Users shared a photo showing a destroyed plane structure in the middle of a forest area. The photo's publishers indicated in their comment that it belonged to the helicopter that was carrying the Iranian president. After checking it, it turned out that it dates back to a plane crash in Colombia, in 2016, in which most of the players of the Brazilian football team Chapecoense were killed, according to Agence France-Presse. Other posts appeared that talked about a picture of plane wreckage in a forested area, and some posts included another picture of what appeared to be rescue personnel. According to Mizan Agency, the spokesman for the judicial authorities in Iran, the scenes show a training plane that crashed at the time in Qala Qala Abbasabad in northern Iran. Another photo documented a scene of the wreckage of a military helicopter, which turned out to be a helicopter that crashed in northern Morocco 5 years ago.
Iranian President Raisi’s helicopter was a US-made Bell-212, a very reliable, albeit outdated, aircraft most likely fitted with new engines, Vadim Bazykin, an honored Russian helicopter test pilot, earlier told Sputnik. Abdulbari Atwan, a well-known analyst of the Arab world of Palestinian descent, in an interview 21 May 2024 with ahririeh.com, stated: "I suspect that a terrorist act is the cause of this incident. Seyyed Ebrahim Raeesi was one of the outstanding candidates to succeed Ayatollah Khamenei. He deserved to lead the future of Iran because he was a Sayyid and a descendant of the Prophet (PBUH). Also, he was very skilled and managed many positions. During his period, Iran saw a lot of progress and he took Iran one step further...
"It is not out of the question that Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and his companions were assassinated because he was the only president during his tenure that Iran attacked the bases of the Israeli regime with more than 300 missiles and drones, and this is a The event was very important. All the weapons and mortars in the possession of al-Qassam and Saraya al-Quds battalions were provided by Iran. During the time of Martyr Ayatollah Raisi, the process of arming the resistance accelerated and the victories of Palestine have been achieved thanks to these weapons.""
He stated: "There are two scenarios regarding the martyrdom of Ayatollah Raisi and his companions. The common scenario is that this helicopter crashed due to unfavorable weather conditions. But this theory has flaws. First of all, this helicopter was special for the president and how is it possible that the bad weather conditions were not taken into account during the flight of such a helicopter. The security issue of the president of a country is very different from other security issues. The weather issues were definitely taken into consideration and then the green light was given for the flight. Another issue is that apart from the president's helicopter, two other helicopters flew and arrived safely at their destination in Tabriz. This has raised many questions. Another important issue is that if the weather conditions were unfavorable, why did the authorities of Azerbaijan province not tell Ayatollah Raisi and his companions about this issue. This province has good facilities for monitoring climate and weather conditions.
Atwan added: The more important scenario raises the question of terror and I do not rule out the theory of terror because Seyed Ebrahim Raisi was the biggest enemy of the Israeli regime, he developed Iran's nuclear program at a high speed and enriched uranium to above 60. percentage reached Many theories say that Iran is on the verge of obtaining an atomic bomb. UN inspectors have not been allowed to enter Iran's nuclear facilities for a year, and the agency's cameras have been taken out of service. Therefore, it is not far from the mind that the Israeli regime and the United States sought to assassinate Seyed Ebrahim Raisi in order to create disruption regarding the issue of the succession of the Iranian leader.
This Arab analyst believes that Israel and the United States wanted to take revenge for the "Honest Promise" operation from Iran, but Iran is a government of institutions, and one person does not rule in it, and these institutions will soon appoint a successor. In this regard, it was decided to hold presidential elections in Iran in the next 50 days.
He emphasizes that the reason for the high probability of an assassination scenario is that Baku is the base of Israel's Mossad. Israel previously used its base in Baku to assassinate the martyr "Fakhrizadeh". At the same time, the Republic of Azerbaijan is trying to weaken Iran. Even Mossad may have conspired without Baku's knowledge. However, all these are possibilities that are confirmed by the close relations of the Republic of Azerbaijan with Israel.
He also raised another speculation and stated that considering that the helicopter was old, it is possible that the United States interfered with its movement with its equipment so that the helicopter hit the mountains. It is also possible that Mossad hacked the software of this helicopter through its bases and destroyed it mechanically. In the final part of his statement, Atwan said: Iran will overcome this ordeal. As this country passed the ordeal of losing Sardar Haj Qassem Soleimani. Iran has suffered a great loss because it has lost a very great man, but things will move on and another president will continue the path of Iran.
Turkish media reports and pundits widely speculated on a helicopter crash in which the Iranian president and other senior officials died. "Was Raisi assassinated?" one news channel's caption said, as guests suggested the potential role of different regional players such as Azerbaijan and Israel "There are many things that cannot be explained on rational grounds. The probability of sabotage is very high," one journalist commented.
"Did it crash or was it brought down?" mainstream Haberturk asked after news of the crash emerged, with guests speculating on possible reasons behind the crash. "We will have to watch the reaction of the US and the EU carefully," an academic told the channel. "Dark accident with Raisi's helicopter," pro-government Turkiye newspaper's main front-page headline said on 20 May, noted that the helicopter crashed hours after Raisi met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
"Was Raisi assassinated?" pro-government TV100 news channel asked, also noting that the crash occurred after Raisi gave messages of cooperation with Azerbaijan. "[The crash] happening after [Raisi's] remarks brings some questions to mind," academic Ipek Ozkal told TV100. Azerbaijani-funded Haber Global news channel hinted at sabotage, questioning whether the crash may have resulted from an "Israeli operation against Iranian President Raisi's helicopter". "There are many things that cannot be explained on rational grounds. The probability of sabotage is very high," pro-government journalist Melik Yigitel told the channel.
Turkish Newspaper Turkiye pointed out a number of oddities in the analysis of the helicopter crash with the Iranian president on board, asking, in particular, questions about why the president flew not on a Russian Mi, but an American helicopter 30 years ago and why the composition of passengers changed. Initially, the media reported that the president was flying on Mi-171. "Usually, helicopters for Raisi's trips were chosen from Russian-made models, and for a trip to Tabriz, preference was given to an American helicopter assembled 30 years ago. Another important detail: previously, pilots were appointed from the ranks Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and this time from the cadres of the Ertesh (army)," a source in the Iranian security agencies told the newspaper.
The helicopter was also equipped with three different tracking systems, including standard GPRS and transponders, but despite this, the location of the helicopter could not be found. Why? An Iranian source also told the newspaper that shortly before takeoff, the manifest with passengers was changed. "Foreign Minister Abdollahian and Tabriz Governor Malik Rahmeti were supposed to fly together on helicopter No 2, but at the last moment Imam of Tabriz Mohammad al-Hashem was planted next to them," Turkiye writes. Why ?
In Iran, the president is the second-highest ranking official after the supreme leader, who has the final say in all major state affairs. Islamic Republic's constitution simply states that when a president dies, a new president "would be chosen." In 1981, authorities called a new election but, in 1989, an amended constitution gave the Supreme Leader, currently Ali Khamenei, further power to decide. Under the current constitution, there was no mandate for a new election. If the president was dead or unable to perform his duties for longer than two months, the first vice president, the speaker of the parliament, and the chief justice, with the consent of the Supreme Leader, form a council to choose the succession mechanism. If the president was unable to fulfill their duties, the first vice president assumes the role of president. Currently, Mohammad Mokhber holds the position of first vice president in Iran.
Many Iranians saw Raisi's presidency as an audition to succeed the 85-year-old cancer-stricken Khamenei as Supreme Leader, but Khamenei's son Mojtaba also coveted the top position. But they would be hard-pressed to sell hereditary leadership to the Iranian people. The factional rivalry has simmered just below the surface. Raisi had long been the IRGC's darling, but many in the clergy favor Mojtaba. Ghalibaf can be president, but he cannot rise to Supreme Leader because he is not a cleric.
Although Raisi was perhaps considered the most conservative and extreme president in Iran and the one whose positions are probably the closest to those of the leader Khamenei, his death is not expected to change the agenda in Iran, which is inevitably expected to continue its policy of regional terrorism and its internal policy of repression. On the other hand, a possible result of Raisi's death may cause shocks in Iran's internal politics, partly because he was seen as a possible candidate to succeed Supreme Leader Khamenei in the future.
Ultraconservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi was elected Iran's new president with more than 61.95 percent of the vote on 18 June 2021. Raisi unsuccessfully challenged moderate reformist President Hassan Rouhani in the 2017 elections but proved victorious this time, with Rouhani ineligible to run for a third term. Raisi was a trusted confidant of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was one of his seminary instructors. Raisi was not an ayatollah but a Hujjat al-Islam, a lower rank of the Shiite clergy, and was also a sayyid – considered a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed in Shiite Islam. This entitles him to wear the black turban, a distinction among the pious.
Ebrahim Raisi was one of the most notorious figures in Iran today. In his role in the judiciary over the past three decades, he has been responsible tor some of the regime's most important atrocities. From his service on the "death commission" of the 1980s to his active role in repression of the Green Movement in 2009, he was an unsavory figure much detested by the public. A religious judge who helped condemn liberals and political opponents to death in mass executions in the late 1980s, Raisi was thought to be regarded highly by Iran’s highest political, military, and religious authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Islamic Republic has only had one leadership transition – when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died in 1989. At the time, Khamenei was elevated from the presidency to the supreme leadership. Thus, if Raisi were to ascend to the presidency, he would be following the precedent that was set in 1989,” said Brodsky. A Raisi win in 2021 would also allow him to compensate for a quality he lacked while serving merely as judiciary chief – the ability to achieve success in Iran’s electoral system. This was something Khamenei had in 1989, and the ground was being laid for Raisi to be able to claim the same quality.
By disqualifying many prominent moderates and reformers, Iran's ruling clerics paved the way for hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi to succeed President Hassan Rohani in the upcoming presidential vote. Rohani was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. The somewhat surprising decision by the Guardians Council to severely limit the voters' choices for president suggests the establishment was determined to guarantee a win for Raisi, who has also been tipped as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was 82 years old. The other six candidates’ chances of becoming president are virtually non-existent, and some of them are even expected to pull out of the race in favor of Raisi before the elections. Consequently, a Raisi presidency was all but certain.
Most notably not on the list of seven presidential candidates approved by the powerful Guardians Council was the man many think would be Raisi's most serious rival -- former parliament speaker Ali Larijani. Well known in Iran, Larijani had held several key posts in government.
Raisi was defeated in the 2017 election in which many people say they voted for Rohani in order to prevent the cleric -- who was linked to the horrific 1980s massacre of thousands of political prisoners -- from becoming president.
A series of polls of Iranian public opinion were conducted in mid-2019 by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland and IranPoll, a Toronto-based body, which have done numerous similar studies in the past. Qasem Suleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, was at 81% popularity (nearly 59% of respondents strongly support him). Raisi, who lost to Rouhani in the 2017 elections and was head of the judiciary and a possible successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exceeded Rouhani in popularity according to the new polls, with nearly 64% approval and 28% strong approval.
In March 2019, he was appointed head of the Iranian Judicial Authority. This was another influential appointment for Raisi, who was entrusted by Khamenei with the task of aggressively fighting "corruption". Khamenei's loyal soldier, Raisi has multiplied the number of widely publicised corruption trials since he took office. He has targeted state dignitaries and also, in a new development, judges.
These trials have enabled him to oust some major political opponents, such as his predecessor at the head of the judiciary, Sadeq Larijani, whose close adviser was involved in one of these corruption scandals. Larijani was also the brother of Ali Larijani, whose own candidacy for the presidential elections was banned by the Guardian Council, probably as a result of this family affair. Raisi has made the fight against corruption one of his central campaign slogans. In a statement, he presented himself as "the opponent of corruption, inefficiency and aristocracy" and promised to fight relentlessly "against poverty" if elected President.
On 04 November 2019 the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action today against Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and nine individuals who are appointees of, or have acted for or on behalf of, Ali Khamenei, the Iranian regime’s unelected Supreme Leader whose office was responsible for advancing Iran’s radical agenda. All property and interests in property of these persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.
OFAC designated Ebrahim Raisi, the head of Iran’s Judiciary, who was appointed by the Supreme Leader in March 2019. OFAC designated the former head of Iran’s Judiciary Sadegh Amoli Larijani Larijani in January 2018 pursuant to E.O. 13553 for his administrative oversight over the executions of individuals who were juveniles at the time of their crime and the torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in Iran, including amputations.
According to a United Nations report, Iran’s Judiciary sanctioned the execution of seven child offenders last year, and two so far in 2019, despite human rights law prohibitions against the death penalty for anyone under age 18. There are at least 90 child offenders currently on death row in Iran. In addition, between September 2018 and July 2019, at least eight prominent lawyers were arrested for defending political prisoners and human rights defenders, many of whom have received lengthy sentences by Iran’s Judiciary.
Prior to Raisi’s appointment as head of the Judiciary, he served as prosecutor general of Tehran between 1989 and 1994, first deputy head of the judiciary from 2004 to 2014, and Iran’s prosecutor general from 2014 to 2016. Raisi was involved in the regime’s brutal crackdown on Iran’s Green Movement protests that followed the chaotic and disorderly 2009 election. Previously, as deputy prosecutor general of Tehran, Raisi participated in a so-called "death commission" that ordered the extrajudicial executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.
Seyyed Ebrahim Ra'isi was born in December 1960 in a religious family in the city of Mashhad in the Noghan Dideh neighborhood. His father, Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Haji, the head of Sadati, as well as his mother, Seyyed Esmat Khodadad Husseini, belong to the lineage of Sadat Hosseini and his lineage from both sides goes back to Hazrat Zayd ibn Ali ibn Al-Husayn (as). Seyed Ibrahim lost his father when he was 5 years old.
He completed his primary education at the Javadiya School and began his seminary studies at the Nawab School and then at the Ayatollah Mousavinejad School. In 1975, he went to the seminary of Qom and Ayatollah Boroujerdi School to continue his education, and for some time he studied in a school run by Ayatollah Pasandideh under the supervision of Imam Khomeini.
Ra'isi studied in the seminary of Qom, the principles of jurisprudence with Ayatollah Marvi, Lamatin with Ayatollah Fazel Harandi, the treatises with Ayatollah Mousavi Tehrani, the lessons of Muharram with Ayatollah Dozduzani, the book Al-Bayy with the lessons of Ayatollah Khazali Ayatollah Sotoudeh and Ayatollah Taheri Khorramabadi and Kefayeh with Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Mohaghegh Damad, the interpretation of the Holy Quran with Ayatollah Meshkini and Ayatollah Khazali, the explanation of poetry and philosophy with Ayatollah Ahmad Beheshti and a course of knowledge with Ayatollah Motahari And he learned Nahj al-Balaghah from Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani.
Ra'isi studied outside of principles with Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hassan Marashi Shoushtari and Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi and outside of jurisprudence with Ayatollah Agha Mojtaba Tehrani and Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Revolution. After completing the seminary level course, he was able to enter the master's degree course in private law and after defending his dissertation entitled "Inheritance without heirs" in 1380 by passing the doctoral entrance exam of Shahid Motahari High School in the field of jurisprudence and private law Continue education.
Ra'isi, by completing his research in the field of jurisprudence and law, succeeded in obtaining the highest level degree (level four) and finally defended his doctoral dissertation entitled "Conflict of principle and appearance in jurisprudence and law". And by obtaining an excellent grade, he achieved a doctorate in jurisprudence and law.
Ra'isi, following the insult to Imam Khomeini (ra) in the information newspaper on January 8, 1977 and the beginning of popular movements, participated in protest rallies, most of which originated in the school of Ayatollah Boroujerdi (Khan School), and in the form of a core of Revolutionary scholars were active. During this period, he pursued his campaign activities in the form of contacts with revolutionary scholars released from prison or in exile. He also participated in gatherings such as the sit-in of ulema and clerics at the University of Tehran.
After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he participated in a special training course held by the Shahid Beheshti to provide staff to meet the management needs of the Islamic system. Following the Marxist uprisings and the creation of various problems in Masjed Soleyman, he went to that area with a group of scholars in the form of cultural activities. After returning from Masjed Soleiman, he established the political-ideological complex of Safar-Do training camp in Shahroud and managed it for a short time.
A native of Mashhad, like Khamenei, Raisi rose quickly through the ranks to become prosecutor-general of Karaj at the age of 20, two years after the 1979 revolution. Two years later, in 1982, he became the prosecutor of Hamedan. Ra'isi entered in the field of management in 1980 by attending the judicial office in Karaj, and after a while, he was appointed as the prosecutor of Karaj by the decree of Martyr Qudussi. His success in organizing the complex situation of this city caused him to take charge of the Hamedan city prosecutor's office after two years in the summer of 1982, simultaneously with the Karaj city prosecutor's office. His simultaneous presence in these two responsibilities continued for a while until he was introduced as the prosecutor of Hamedan province and served in this position from 1982 to 1984.
Hojjatoleslam Ra'isi married Dr. Jamileh Sadat Alam al-Huda, the eldest daughter of Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Alam al-Huda, in 1983 at the age of 23. Dr. Alam al-Huda was an Associate Professor of Philosophy of Educational Sciences at Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran, a former director of the Humanities Research Institute and chair of the Education Commission of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Hojjatoleslam Dr. Raisi and Dr. Alam al-Huda have two daughters. Hojjatoleslam Dr. Ra'isi, who pays special attention to his education and that of his family members, was married to his first daughter and has two master's degrees. One was in the field of social sciences from Al-Zahra University (peace be upon him) and the other was in the field of Quran and Hadith Sciences from the University of Hadith in the city of Rey.
Raeisi was appointed as the Deputy Prosecutor of the Revolution in Tehran in 1985, and thus began his period of judicial management in Tehran. Following his success in resolving complex court cases, Imam Khomeini appointed him to address social problems in some provinces, including Lorestan, Kermanshah, and Semnan, through special and direct rulings.
Raisi was notorious for his role in the 1980s mass executions of regime opponents. He was a member of the so-called death committee that questioned prisoners about their religious beliefs and political affiliations and sent thousands of Iranians to their deaths. In 1985, Raisi moved to the capital and became a deputy to Tehran’s prosecutor-general. He held the post in the summer of 1988 when an estimated 5,000 political prisoners, including students and leftists, were executed following an order by the founder of Iran's Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
After the death of Imam Khomeini, Ra'isi was appointed as the Prosecutor of Tehran by the order of the then head of the Judiciary, and he held this position for five years from 1989 to 1994. He has been the head of the National Inspection Organization since 1373. It was appointed that his service in this position continued until 2004. Ra'isi's tenure in charge of the National Inspection Agency was a turning point in his life. Having experienced a national macro-management for ten years, he transformed and systematized the supervision of administrative apparatuses based on his accumulated experiences. During his tenure, the National Inspection Agency faced a balanced structural development and was established as one of the regulatory pillars of the Islamic Republic. During this period, which coincided with the coming to power of the reform government, many nodes of the administrative and economic system were identified and a way out of the field of corruption was formulated. Some controversial cases of economic corruption were the product of the day-to-day activities of Ra'isi and his colleagues in this organization at that time.
Hojjatoleslam Dr. Ra'isi was the First Deputy of the Judiciary for ten years from 2004 to 2014 . He, who experienced two heads of forces in this position, as one of the senior judicial officials of the country, was responsible for organizing and managing the organization of this complex. From 1393 to Esfand 1394, he served as the Attorney General.
Ra'isi had worked as a special prosecutor for the clergy since 2012 with the decree of the Supreme Leader. He was also appointed as the patron saint of Astan Quds Razavi (as) by the decree of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei on March 8, 1994, and he was still honored to serve in that lofty threshold.
It was worth mentioning that in 1997, he became a member of the Clergy Society at the suggestion of some influential members of the militant clergy community, including Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, and with the approval of the Central Council of the Clergy Society.
Ra'isi was nominated in 2006 by the Qom Seminary Teachers Association and the Society of Fighting Clergy and on the recommendation of the elites of South Khorasan Province for membership in the fourth term of the Assembly of Experts, which was elected by more than 80% of the people. Two years after attending this assembly, the nation's experts elected him as a member of the presidium.
He was also elected as the representative of the honorable people of South Khorasan for the second time in the fifth term of the Assembly of Leadership Experts in March 2016 by gaining an overwhelming majority of votes, and his membership in the board continues.
Hojjatoleslam Dr. Ra'isi started a new period of his life in April 1996 by registering as a candidate for the twelfth presidential election.
Hojjatoleslam Dr. Raeisi, in addition to major national responsibilities, on the repeated advice of Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani and Ayatollah Haj Agha Mojtaba Tehrani to maintain their academic relationship with students, since 1980 as a teacher in religious schools in Tehran, including the school Majd school Imam Ali (PBUH), school of Imam Hussein (PBUH) and school Marvi teaches senior-level domains, such as letters and Makasib, Kfaytyn and rules Fqhyh was busy and then heading to the holy city of Mashhad since the beginning of 1395 at the High school Nawab, teaching He dealt with the subject of "waqf jurisprudence". Hojjatoleslam Dr. Ra'isi has taught specialized courses in jurisprudence, jurisprudence, economics, principles of jurisprudence and civil law in the master's and doctoral degrees.
Like the supreme leader, Raisi comes from the holy city of Mashhad, in northeast Iran. It was no coincidence that, in 2016, Khamenei appointed him to head the powerful religious foundation Astan Quds Razavi. The foundation manages the shrine of Imam Reza – the Prophet's eighth successor according to the Duodecimal Shiites – and was located in the same city of Mashhad.
This major Shiite pilgrimage site attracts billions of euros in donations, funds which the Astan Quds Razavi organisation controls. The foundation, which functions as both a charity and a holding company, owns a multitude of real estate properties, farmland and businesses in fields as diverse as construction, tourism, agriculture and food. To head this foundation was to run an economic empire. Raisi did this for three years, before being summoned by Khamenei to pursue a different role.
This supporter of a "state-led" vision was not expected to advocate opening up the Iranian economy to foreign investors. Iran under Raisi was most likely to continue to invest in infrastructure, water, electricity and health, with an economy dominated by the foundations he knows well and the Revolutionary Guards who also own many companies. Researchers estimate that these semi-public players currently represent more than 50 percent of the Iranian economy, but that the phenomenon remains difficult to quantify because these companies do not have "clear traceability" and operate in a system that protects them.
As for the Iranian nuclear agreement currently being negotiated, although Raisi was defiant towards the West, he was not expected be explicitly opposed to it. It was always the supreme leader who sets the tone for these negotiations. Raisi has referred to the United States as "the Great Satan" and said that it cannot be trusted. "We don’t count on U.S. promises in our calculations," he was quoted as saying in February 2017 on the anniversary of Iran's 1979 revolution that ousted the shah and replaced him with a theocracy.
Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s hardline judiciary chief, has won a landslide victory in the country’s presidential election. Israel condemned Raisi, saying he was Iran’s “most extremist president to date”. “The butcher of Tehran, Ebrahim Raisi, has been rightly denounced by the international community for his direct role in the extrajudicial executions of over 30,000 people,” Lior Haiat, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement. “An extremist figure, committed to Iran’s rapidly advancing military nuclear programme, his election makes clear Iran’s true malign intentions, and should prompt grave concern among the international community.”
“That Ebrahim Raisi has risen to the presidency instead of being investigated for the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance and torture, was a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran,” Amnesty International head Agnes Callamard said. “We continue to call for Ebrahim Raisi to be investigated for his involvement in past and ongoing crimes under international law, including by states that exercise universal jurisdiction.”
Despite his controversial background, Raisi proved to be a pragmatic and consistent leader. His political strategy focused on strengthening ties with neighboring and regional allies rather than the West, in stark contrast to his predecessor, the more liberal Hassan Rouhani. Under Raisi, Iran cemented its relationship with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), becoming a full member, and joined BRICS. Tehran also began a phased integration with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and expanded its relations with Russia.
Under Raisi, Iran-Russia relations reached new heights both militarily and economically, with bilateral trade surpassing $5 billion, and the introduction of visa-free travel for tourists between the two countries. Raisi’s presidency saw Tehran firmly align its foreign policy priorities with Russia and China.
Despite his conservative stance and opposition to the West, Raisi and his administration made efforts to negotiate with the United States through European intermediaries, aiming to revive the nuclear deal. However, these attempts were unsuccessful. The Biden administration ultimately refused to re-enter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the European Union proved ineffective as a mediator. Consequently, Iran continued to advance its nuclear program, resisting pressure from Washington and Brussels.
Raisi also restored diplomatic relations with a number of predominantly Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Djibouti, Turkey, Qatar and the Maldives, and strengthened ties with several post-Soviet republics. Under his leadership, Iran managed to retrieve £400 million from the United Kingdom for a cancelled 1979 tank contract. Furthermore, Iran increased its oil production to 3.4 million barrels per day, exceeding pre-sanction levels. Raisi’s tenure also saw Iran challenge Israel directly, conducting a large-scale operation and launching a missile strike in retaliation for an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus which took the lives of 11 Iranian diplomats and two IRGC generals.
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