Raisi was traveling in a helicopter in northwestern Iran when it had to make a hard landing, according to state media. Raisi, a conservative cleric and decadeslong confidant of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, came to power in the 2021 elections. Raisi didn’t serve in the military during Iran’s eight-year long war with Iraq in the 1980s, another contrast to some of his predecessors. As a young man, Raisi studied in the early 1990s under Khamenei and never strayed far from the leader’s positions. Under Raisi, Iran also stepped up detentions of foreign nationals, including several Europeans who were held for years without a fair and free trial, according to Western governments.

Source: Wall Street Journal May 20, 2024 10:39 UTC