Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during the 43rd anniversary of the U.S. expulsion from Iran, in Tehran, Iran November 4, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
- Raisi was contender to succeed supreme leader Khamenei, 85
- Raisi, 63, was Khamenei protege, harsh critic of the West
- As president, he cracked down on dissent at home
- Raisi pursued uncompromising stance in nuclear talks
- Critics accused Raisi of playing role in executions of 1980s
Ebrahim Raisi, who died aged 63, rose through Iran’s theocracy from hardline prosecutor to uncompromising president, overseeing a crackdown on protests at home and pushing hard in nuclear talks with world powers as he burnished his credentials to position himself to become the next supreme leader.
Raisi died when a helicopter carrying him back from a visit to the Azerbaijani border crashed in mountainous terrain, killing all aboard, a senior Iranian official said. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was among those killed.