Iranian President and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died in the crash of their helicopter on Sunday in northwest Iran.
On site, the television broadcasts religious songs while showing photos of him. Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi died in a helicopter accident, the government confirmed Monday, May 20, after the discovery of the wreckage of the aircraft at dawn.
Elected with a record abstention, ultraconservative, resolute opponent of Israel… Franceinfo gives you a portrait of the former president, who will be replaced by the First Vice-President, Mohammad Mokhber, before the organization of a presidential election within 50 days.
He spent most of his career in the judicial system
Born in December 1960 in the holy Shiite city of Mashhad, in the northeast of the country, Ebrahim Raïssi rose through the ranks of the judicial system for three decades. After being appointed prosecutor general of Karaj, near Tehran, at just 20 years old, in the wake of the victory of the Islamic Revolution of 1979, he served as prosecutor general of Tehran from 1989 to 1994, then deputy head of the Authority judicial from 2004 to 2014, the year of his appointment as attorney general of the country.
In 2016, Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei placed him at the head of the powerful Astan-é Quds Razavi charitable foundation, which manages the mausoleum of Imam-Réza in Mashhad as well as an immense industrial and real estate heritage. Three years later, he became head of the Judicial Authority.
Always wearing a black “seyyed” turban (descendant of Mohammed), Ebrahim Raïssi, salt-and-pepper beard and thin glasses, followed courses in religion and Islamic jurisprudence from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Married to Jamileh Alamolhoda, professor of education sciences at Shahid University Beheshti from Tehran, with whom he had two daughters who graduated from higher education, he is the son-in-law of Ahmad Alamolhoda, imam of prayer and provincial representative of the guide in Mashhad, Iran’s second city.
He has been at the head of the country since 2021
Ebrahim Raïssi took the helm of the Islamic Republic almost three years ago: he was elected on June 18, 2021 in the first round of a vote marked by a record abstention for a presidential election and the absence of strong competitors . He pledged during the electoral campaign to be the defender of “freedom of expression” and “fundamental rights of all Iranian citizens”. He also introduced himself as the champion of the underprivileged classes and the fight against corruption. After his victory, Ebrahim Raïssi succeeded the moderate Hassan Rouhani, who beat him in the May 2017 presidential election. and could no longer stand again after two consecutive terms.
His mandate was shaken by a tense internal context: a strong protest movement at the end of 2022, following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman arrested for non-compliance with the dress code, a double attack in January 2024 claimed by The Islamic State – “the deadliest attack on Iranian soil since 1978”precise The world – And “a severe economic crisis”adds the newspaper.
But the latest national election had reinforced it: the conservatives and ultraconservatives, supporters of his government, won the legislative elections in mid-May 2024. Ebrahim Raïssi then welcomed“a new historic failure inflicted on Iran’s enemies after the riots” of 2022. “Since he arrived [au pouvoir]he strengthened the moral police in Iran”specified to France Télévisions the FRanco-Iranian Fahimeh Robiolle, author of Woman, life, freedom.
Ultraconservative, he was an “executor” of the ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Ebrahim Raïssi was supported by the main authority of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “He was a pawn in the strategy of guide Ali Khamenei, who wants to put the most radical currents in power in Iran”comments to France Télévisions Thierry Coville, researcher atInstitute of International and Strategic Relations (Iris) and specialist in Iran. Ultraconservative and unabashed supporter of order, Ebrahim Raïssi was thus “considered a possible successor to the ayatollah”reports the New York Times.
stale portrait
“The real holder of power in Iran is not the President of the Republic, it is the guide of the Revolution, Ali Khamenei, who is still in place. The President of the Republic in Iran does not is ultimately that a Prime Minister is an executive., confirms with franceinfo Jonathan Piron, historian and political scientist specializing in Iran. Before the confirmation of the president’s death, Ali Khamenei reassured: “The Iranian people should not worry, there will be no disruptions in the administration of the country.”
Ebrahim Raïssi was on the American blacklist of Iranian officials sanctioned by Washington for “complicity in serious human rights violations”accusations dismissed as null and void by the authorities in Tehran.
A resolute opponent of Israel
In recent months, Ebrahim Raïssi had presented himself as a resolute adversary of Israel, the sworn enemy of the Islamic Republic, by providing his support to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas since the start, on October 7, of the war that Israel delivered to him in the Gaza Strip. He thus justified the unprecedented attack launched by Iran on April 13 against Israel, with 350 drones and missiles, most of which were intercepted with the help of the United States and several other allied countries.
Again on Sunday, during a trip to the province of Eastern Azerbaijan, he once again supported Hamas against Israel during a joint press conference with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev. “We believe that Palestine is the first issue of the Muslim world”he declared in particular.