Summary
- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protégé of the country’s supreme leader, has died at the age of 63.
- Raisi, who previously lost a presidential election to Hassan Rouhani, came to power in 2021 in a vote carefully managed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
- His administration faced challenges with the stalled nuclear deal talks and internal dissent following mass protests in 2022.
- Raisi’s background included serving on the “death commissions” that oversaw the executions of thousands in 1988.
