Ebrahim Raisi, Iran's president who died in chopper crash, was a hardline leader

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died after his helicopter crashed in the mountains in the East Azerbaijan province of the Shi'ite nation on Sunday (May 19).

During his tenure, Raisi's hardline stance has dominated domestic politicsas he navigated a severe economic crisis and a historic escalation in the country's conflict with Israel.

Raisi assumed the presidency in 2021, succeeding the moderate Hassan Rouhani, and his term has been characterised by ongoing crises and conflicts.

A year after Raisi’s election, the mid-ranking cleric ordered authorities to tighten the enforcement of Iran's hijab and chastity law, restricting women's attire and behaviour.

Iran witnessed a wave of protests in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian-Kurdish woman who died in custody in September 2022 after being arrested for allegedly violating women's dress regulations.

The nationwide protests turned out to be the gravest challenges to Iran's clerical rulers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Hundreds were killed, including dozens of security personnel who were part of the violent crackdown on the protesters as the president stated that acts of disorder are unacceptable.

Ebrahim Raisi's political career

The 63-year-old leader previously oversawIran'sjudiciary. He first ran for the Iranian presidential elections in 2017 against Hassan Rouhani but was unsuccessful.

Hecame backin the 2021 elections that saw most of his rivalsbeing blocked outunder the vetting system.

A hardliner, he was a contender to be Iran's next supreme leader with a clampdown on morality questions and a bloody crackdown on the nationwide protests it triggered.

Watch:Raisi's convoy helicopter accident: Iran's Interior Minister confirms incident

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The voter turnout remained extremely low in those elections, with just 28.9 million voters exercising their rights.

Raisi received 62 per cent of the total votes polled.

Raisi's victory in 2021came after heavyweight conservative and moderate rivals were disqualified by an oversight body, and brought all branches of power under the control of hardliners loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Raisi's 85-year-old mentor, who has the final say on all major policies.

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Raisi rose through the ranks of clergy and was appointed as judiciary chief by Khameneiin 2019.

Shortly afterwards, he was also elected deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the 88-member clerical body responsible for electing the next Supreme Leader.

Why did US impose sanctions on Raisi?

Raisiwas first sanctionedby the US in 2019 for what it said was"his administrative oversight over the executions of individuals who were juveniles at the time of their crime and the torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in Iran, including amputations."

Also Read |Russia to deploy 47 rescue specialists, helicopter after Raisi's aircraft crashes

The infamous execution of 1988saw sham retrials of political prisoners, militants and others that would become known as“death commissions”at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

The trials began when Iran thwarted a surprise attack by members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, heavily armed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Those whowere capturedwere later askedto identify themselves. Those who saidtheywere"Mujahedeen"were given death sentences immediately. Others were entrusted with the task of“clear minefields for the army of the Islamic Republic,”according to a 1990 Amnesty International report.

Raisi'srecent controversial decisions

Most recently, Raisi wasunderstood to have overseenIran'smassive aerial assault on Israel in April. He also backed thecountry'sbrutal crackdown on protests that erupted after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini.

Earlier, he also supported thecountry'senrichment of uranium up to near-weapons-grade levels.

(With inputs from agencies)