Iranian leader, reported killed in a helicopter crash by state media, was dogged by claims of a key role in executions carried out in the 1980s
Iran 's president, Ebrahim Raisi: deeply conservative on the domestic front, increasingly aggressive in foreign policy.
While still a young student, he joined the mass protests against the western-backed Shah in 1979 that would lead to the Islamic Revolution under the guidance of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a cleric until his dramatic return from exile in France. It was while still in that role, say human rights groups, that he became one of four judges sitting on the infamous Death Committee, a secret tribunal set up in 1988 to retry thousands of prisoners, many of them members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq group.
Raisi’s election win, which saw him succeed Hassan Rouhani as president, represented a push back from Iran’s ultra-conservatives against the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that gave Iran relief from international sanctions.Raisi’s first effort to displace Rouhani, in 2017, fell short, as Rouhani won 57 per cent of the vote. His profile, however, was given a new boost when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed him deputy chief of the Assembly of Experts in 2019.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Iran helicopter crash: Search for missing president Ebrahim Raisi hampered by dense fogIranians called upon to pray for president, who was returning from visit to country’s northwest when crash happened
Read more »
Iranians urged to ‘pray for president’ after helicopter incidentNo details of Ebrahim Raisi’s condition have been provided. Rescuers’ efforts to reach scene are being hampered by difficult weather
Read more »
Iran’s president found dead at helicopter crash site, state media reportsEbrahim Raisi (63), a hardliner who formerly led the country’s judiciary, was viewed as a protege of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Read more »
World Snooker Championship star's 'shot of the tournament' stuns BBC commentatorThe World Snooker Championships got underway on Saturday and Judd Trump got his campaign off to a postitive start against Hossein Vafaei, but it was the Iranian who left viewers in awe
Read more »
Iran's foreign minister downplays drone attackIran's foreign minister has said the Iranian government is investigating an overnight attack yesterday on Iran, adding that so far a link to Israel had not been proven as he downplayed the strike.
Read more »
Iran helicopter crash: Search for missing president Ebrahim Raisi hampered by dense fogIranians called upon to pray for president, who was returning from visit to country’s northwest when crash happened
Read more »