The Dark Legacy of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi: From ‘Hanging Judge’ to Supreme Leader

The photographs of the 5,000 political prisoners executed by the Iranian authorities in the summer of 1988 resemble those found on a college graduation certificate. In Amnesty International’s report Secrets soaked in blood, which was released 20 years later, many of these images show faces of young men and women, but also children barely adolescents. This massacre saw thousands of Iranians being executed and then buried in mass graves after a commission of four followers of the Islamic regime ordered their deaths.

One of those four men was Ebrahim Raisi, who is currently president of Iran since 2021. His helicopter disappeared this Sunday near Varzeqan, in the northwest of Iran. Raisi earned a reputation as an easy gallows magistrate during that period, which is known as a “hanging judge” in Iran. Despite his disgraceful past actions, he continues to hold power in Iran and remains committed to maintaining the ultra-conservative orthodoxy established by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The tendency known as “principalists” currently controls most levers of power in Iran. Those who oppose any Western influence are active in this group, advocating imposing blind obedience to Khamenei and moving towards an all-out Islamic society governed by Velayat-e Faqihor principles. Born 63 years ago and married with two children, Raisi studied at Qom seminary and received classes from several ideologues associated with the current regime in Iran. At age 20, he became prosecutor before participating as deputy prosecutor for Tehran when thousands were hanged according to Amnesty International and witnesses.

Raisi’s career continued to rise steadily between 2004 and 2006 when he served as vice president at Supreme Court and between 2014 and 2016 when he served as attorney general before winning elections for presidency last June 2021 with just one-third voter support despite having been supported by most voters under previous regimes. The low turnout for these elections marked the first time it fell below over 70% recorded previously in Islamic Republic history while protests quieted down after his victory but his name no longer sounded much like Khamenei’s dolphin due to his association with human rights violations during his time as deputy prosecutor for Tehran where opponents were hanged en masse according to Amnesty International and witnesses.