Iranian President Raisi is lifeless, stays of helicopter discovered | EUROtoday

Mehr information company says Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, East Azerbaijan province governor Malek Rahmati and Tabriz Friday prayer chief Mohammadali Al-Hashem additionally died on board the identical plane.

Raisi, 63, was elected president in 2021 and his rise to energy coincided with a tightening of morality legal guidelines and a crackdown on anti-government protests. Raisi received the presidency with the bottom turnout ever, in an election that excluded most reformists. Raisi first ran for president in 2017, shedding to Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani, a extra reasonable chief, was central to the nuclear deal that former US President Donald Trump deserted in 2018.

Conversely, Raisi got here into workplace pledging to finish efforts to construct commerce ties with the West and as a substitute give attention to creating ties with China and Russia. His presidency ended a interval through which the Foreign Ministry was led by multilingual diplomats who favored higher relations with the United States and stronger commerce with Europe. Raisi was born within the northeastern metropolis of Mashhad, one of many holiest websites in Shiite Islam. His father died when he was 5 and he attended varied Islamic seminaries as a baby earlier than turning into a prosecutor in Karaj, a metropolis in northern Iran, in his early 20s. He was married to Jamileh Alamolhoda, daughter of an ultra-conservative cleric, and collectively that they had two daughters.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds the levers of energy with the ultimate say on Iran's international coverage and nuclear program, had earlier sought to reassure Iranians, saying there could be no disruption in state affairs .

In Iran's twin political system, divided between the clerical institution and the federal government, it’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, supreme chief since 1989, who holds decision-making energy on all main insurance policies. For years many had seen Raisi as a powerful contender for succession. Now his demise opens the way in which for Khamenei's son, Mojtaba. Raisi's victory in 2021 introduced all branches of energy beneath conservative management, after eight years through which the presidency was held by the reasonable Hassan Rouhani. Under the legislation, Raisi's duties now go to the vp – Mohammad Mokhber, 68 – pending new elections which have to be held inside 50 days. Mokhber can also be thought of a conservative near Khamenei's positions.