A Brief Political History Of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi ‘The Butcher Of Tehran’ Killed In Helicopter Crash

Known as a jurist and religious figure, the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was born on December 14, 1960, in Mashhad. Following the 1979 revolution, he began his career as a prosecutor in 1981.

Rising swiftly in his position, Raisi became Deputy Prosecutor General of Tehran at the young age of 25.

Raisi was part of a 4-member committee that, under the instruction of Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued the death sentences for regime opponents imprisoned in 1988.

After Khomeini’s death and during Ali Khamenei’s tenure, Raisi rapidly climbed the ranks in state offices. He served as Tehran’s prosecutor general from 1989 to 1994.

In 1994, Raisi was appointed as the head of the State Inspectorate Organization, a position he held for 10 years.

In 2004, Raisi was appointed as the first deputy chief of the judiciary. He later became Iran’s attorney general in 2014 and was appointed as the head of the Imam Reza Shrine and Foundation in Mashhad by Khamenei in 2016.

Raisi also ran as a candidate in the presidential elections held on May 19, 2017, but lost to the then-incumbent President Hassan Rouhani.

Following the dismissal of Ayatollah Amoli Larijani from the judiciary chief position and his appointment as the head of the Expediency Discernment Council by Khamenei, Raisi assumed the vacant position of judiciary chief in March 2019.

In the presidential elections held on June 18, 2021, Raisi won by a large margin, securing 62% of the votes, thus becoming Iran’s 8th president.

Biography: The Butcher Of Tehran

Raisi had been in office as President of Iran since August 3, 2021. He was a representative of the extremely conservative wing in Iranian politics, supported even greater Islamization of society, restrictions on women’s rights and control of the Internet.

Raisi previously served as Hamadan prosecutor, Tehran prosecutor, and Iran’s Attorney General.

In each of these positions, he participated in mass repression of opponents of the Ayatollah’s regime. Raisi handed down death sentences, personally participated in torture, and oversaw the executions of political dissidents.

Raisi was one of four men involved in the mass executions of Iranian political prisoners in 1988. Then, over a five-month period, thousands of prisoners of conscience across the country were kidnapped and extrajudicially executed. Many of those killed were tortured and brutally abused.

He also oversaw the execution of minors and brutal torture of Iranian prisoners, including amputations.

For this, Iran’s future president was nicknamed “The Executioner of Tehran.”

Earlier on Monday, President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and their companions were declared dead after their helicopter crashed in northwestern Iran’s East Azerbaijan province on Sunday afternoon.