REGIME - IRAN: What next for Iran as hardline cleric takes the helm - Reportage
By: Iain Fraser - Reportage Editor - Malaga City
www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com
Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raisi a hardline cleric is to be sworn into office succeeding the largely "moderate" Hassan Rouhani following his landslide election victory in June.
The 60-year-old, who will take office in August, presented himself as the best person to combat corruption and solve the economic problems Iran has experienced under the outgoing President.
Who is Ebrahim Raisi
Ebrahim Raisi was born in 1960 in Mashhad, Iran's second biggest city and home to the country's holiest Shia Muslim shrine. His father, who was a cleric, died when he was five years old.
Mr. Raisi, who wears a black turban identifying him in Shia tradition as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, followed his father's footsteps and started attending a seminary in the holy city of Qom at the age of 15.
While a student he took part in protests against the Western-backed Shah, who was eventually toppled in 1979 in an Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
He is the head of the country's judiciary, and has ultra-conservative political views and is said to be close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Many Iranians and human rights activists have pointed to his alleged role in the mass executions of political prisoners in the 1980s.
What we can expect from Iran's new president
Raisi takes the helm of Iran at crucial time the country´s history and has to confront a myriad of international challenges. There are also heightened tensions with foreign powers who have blamed Iran for a deadly drone attack on a tanker near Oman last week, which Tehran was quick to distance itself from.
Its economy has been decimated by US-led sanctions forcing inflation to spiral out of control, it is facing chronic water shortages and power outages and then there is still the elephant in the room - Its Nuclear ambitions. Click Here for our Full Analysis direct to your mailbox or smart device.
About Ebrahim Raisi
Ebrahim Raisi, in full Ebrahīm Raʾīs al-Sādātī, (born December 14, 1960, Mashhad, Iran), Iranian cleric, prosecutor, and politician who served as Iran’s head of the judiciary (2019–21).
Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati, commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi, is an Iranian conservative Islamist and principlist politician, Muslim jurist, and the 8th and current President of Iran since 3 August 2021, having been elected to the presidency in the 2021 Iranian presidential election.
Born: December 14, 1960 (age 60 years), Mashhad, Iran
Full name: Sayyid Ebrahim Raisol-Sadati
Spouse: Jamileh Alamolhoda (m. 1983)
Party: Combatant Clergy Association
Office: President of Iran since 2021
Image Credit: Majid Haghdoust Under CCA 4.0
