Fall Of Shah, Rise Of Raisi: How Ebrahim Raisi Consolidated Power In Iran

When Ebrahim Raisi assumed the presidency in August 2021, many feared an escalation in Iran's repressive policies.

In Iran, President Ebrahim Raisi is a name that evokes both reverence and revulsion. Revered by the hardline factions within Iran's theocratic regime and reviled by human rights organisations, Raisi's journey from a low-ranking cleric's son to the zenith of Iranian power to an abrupt death in an air crash is steeped in controversy.

When Raisi assumed the presidency in August 2021, many feared an escalation in Iran's repressive policies. These fears were soon realised. His administration presided over an alarming increase in executions and continued crackdowns on political dissent. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), emboldened by Raisi's hardline stance, had always been intense in suppressing any form of opposition.

Born on December 14, 1960, in Mashhad in northeast Iran, Raisi grew up in the Islamic clerical tradition. His father, a mid-ranking cleric, ensured that young Raisi was immersed in religious education early on. After he completed only six years of primary school, Raisi was sent to a traditional Islamic seminary, where he would begin his lifelong association with Iran's clerical establishment.