Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has died aged 63 in a helicopter crash in northern Iran.
Mr Raisi was president from 2021 until his death on Sunday and was widely regarded as the potential successor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ruled the country since 1989.
In his three years as president, Mr Raisi ruled through a wave of crises – from the coronavirus to increasing regional tension – and tightened Tehran's strict interpretation of its "revolutionary ideals".
As President, he cemented Iran's nuclear ambitions in the face of international sanctions and oversaw the response to the most widespread anti-regime protests in the country's recent history.
Born in 1960 in Mashhad, an important city in north-eastern Iran, Mr Raisi grew up in a clerical family at a time when many in Iran's religious establishment were becoming disillusioned with the Shah's modernising reforms.
In 1975, he studied under some of Iran's most prominent clerics at the seminary in Qom, one of the centres of Shiite Islamic thought, and took part in the wave of demonstrations that became the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
While the revolution initially comprised a range of groups opposed to the Shah's increasingly authoritarian rule, it resulted in the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, led by supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, with the religious establishment entrenching itself in the new regime.
Mr Raisi was trained in administration and served as a prosecutor in several Iranian cities, including in the capital Tehran between 1989 and 1994, before serving as First Deputy Chief Justice and Iran's Prosecutor General in 2014.
The former judiciary official was also known for his role in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the 1980s.
As a prosecutor, Mr Raisi was one of four judges who sat on secret tribunals given the task of drawing up lists of prisoners to be executed during the Iran-Iraq War.
The tribunals later came to be known as the "death committee," with thousands of prisoners sentenced to death.
At least 5,000 political prisoners were executed under his watch, according to Amnesty International. Mr Raisi has denied his role in the sentencing.
He was trained by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Mr Khomeini as Iran's supreme leader in 1989.
In 2016, he was appointed as the custodian of the shrine of Ali Al Rida in Mashhad, which left him in charge of Iran's largest charitable trust, with billions of dollars of assets.
Mr Raisi, who had become a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts in 2007, first stood for president in 2017, campaigning on an anti-corruption ticket.
He was defeated by the reformist Hassan Rouhani in a landslide, securing 38 per cent of the vote.
Two years later, he was named as head of the judiciary and was elected as the head of the Assembly of Experts, giving him a powerful position within Iran's establishment.
In 2021, he became President after winning 62 per cent of votes in an election critics say was manipulated.
His term began amid the pandemic, in which more than 140,000 Iranians died.
Iran's economy also suffered from the effects of US sanctions and high inflation.
Little more than a year after Mr Raisi came to power, Iran was rocked by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in morality police custody, sparking the fiercest public opposition to the regime in its four-decade rule.
Demonstrations against the regime spread to every province across Iran, with security forces responding by killing about 600 people and arresting another 20,000.
Mr Raisi accused the demonstrators, mostly young women, of being backed by the US and Israel, and took Iran's strict rules on women to new heights, sending more morality police on to the streets and installing security cameras to monitor women in their cars.
A wave of executions followed, which rights groups say has continued to surge amid international focus on the war in Gaza.
The President also banned inspectors with the UN's nuclear agency from visiting the country and oversaw record levels of nuclear enrichment, stoking concern that Tehran was pursuing its ambitions undeterred.
In 2023, Iran and Saudi Arabia announced they were restoring diplomatic relations.
Under Mr Raisi, Tehran continued its policy of arming and supporting militias across the region, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran came close to all-out conflict with Israel in April, when Tehran launched a barrage of rockets and missiles against Israel after an Israeli strike killed several Iranian commanders in Damascus.
The two countries walked back from the brink, but Iran remained committed to supporting the "Axis of Resistance" across the region during Mr Raisi's presidency.
His death in a helicopter crash close to the border with Azerbaijan sent shock waves across Iran, and the wider region.
Mr Raisi was married to Jamileh Alamolhoda, an educational sciences lecturer at Tehran's Shahid-Beheshti University, and had two daughters.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Specs
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Engine: Duel electric motors
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
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On sale: Available to order now
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
The five pillars of Islam
The five pillars of Islam
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The years Ramadan fell in May
