structural:expansion, quality:corruption
Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati, better known as Ebrahim Raisi, was an Iranian politician who served as the eighth president of Iran from 2021 until his death in a helicopter crash in 2024. He was a Muslim jurist and part of the Principlist group. Raisi was the son-in-law of Mashhad Friday prayer leader and Grand Imam of Imam Reza shrine, Ahmad Alamolhoda. He began his clerical studies at age 15. In the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Raisi served in several positions in Iran's judicial system, including as Prosecutor of Karaj, Prosecutor of Hamadan and Deputy Prosecutor and Prosecutor of Tehran. Raisi played role on the Tehran branch of what has been called the "1988 Iran death commission". Under the direction of Grand Ayatollah Khomeini several Iranian political prisoners were executed by these local "death commissions," and as a result of his work on the Tehran commission, Raisi earned himself the nickname: "Butcher of Tehran". In 1988 the United Nations special rapporteurs and other organizations accused him of crimes against humanity for his role in these executions. He was Deputy Chief Justice (2004–2014), Attorney General (2014–2016), and Chief Justice (2019–2021). Raisi was elected to the Assembly of Experts from South Khorasan Province, for the first time in the 2006 election. He was Custodian and Chairman of Astan Quds Razavi, a bonyad, from 2016 until 2019. Raisi ran for president in 2017 as the candidate of the conservative Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces, losing to the moderate incumbent president Hassan Rouhani, 57% to 38%. Raisi successfully ran for president a second time in 2021 with 63% of the votes, succeeding Rouhani. Considered a hardliner in Iranian politics, Raisi's presidency saw deadlock in negotiations with the U.S. over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and large-scale protests throughout the country in late 2022, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini on 16 September. During Raisi's term, Iran intensified uranium enrichment, hindered international inspections, joined SCO and BRICS, and supported Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Iran also launched a missile and drone attack on Israel during the Gaza conflict and continued arming proxy groups like Hezbollah and the Houthi movement.