Little-known Iranian cleric Ebrahim Raisi emerges as a frontrunner for supreme leader

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Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the wealthiest charity in the Muslim world, is considered a leading candidate to succeed 77-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photo: Raisi.net

Published: 1:59pm, 10 Jan 2017Updated: 9:38pm, 10 Jan 2017

A 56-year-old conservative cleric relatively unknown to the outside world is quietly emerging as a frontrunner to be Iran’s next supreme leader.

Ebrahim Raisi is the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, the wealthiest charity in the Muslim world and the organisation in charge of Iran’s holiest shrine. It is believed he is being groomed to be a leading candidate to succeed 77-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei’s tenure, which has spanned more than a quarter-century, will end only with his death; but the sudden death on Sunday of Hashemi Rafsanjani, once regarded as the country’s greatest political survivor, has revived speculation about the succession. In 2014, Khamenei, the country’s ultimate decision-maker and its commander-in-chief, was announced to have undergone prostate surgery, which broke a taboo on the topic.

Rafsanjani, who will be buried on Tuesday, was a major political force in Iran. Although his influence had diminished in recent years as he shifted his political allegiance to reformists, he was still considered to have influence in pushing for a more moderate candidate to succeed Khamenei.

Rafsanjani revealed in a newspaper interview in June that two people had been shortlisted by the assembly of experts, the clerical body in charge of choosing the next supreme leader, although there has been no official confirmation.

The death of former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani has triggered a fresh discussion about the succession plans in the event of the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photo: AFP

Three others touted are Hashemi Shahroudi and Sadeq Larijani, the former and current judiciary chiefs, and the current president, Hassan Rouhani. Raisi is closer to Khamenei’s inner circle but has comparatively little executive experience.

Raisi’s rise in prominence since his appointment in March has surprised many political commentators. He wears a black turban, indicating he is a seyed – a descendant of the prophet Muhammad, in Shia Islam. Mohsen Kadivar, who has taught at Qom seminary, Iran’s most prominent Shia religious hub, said this fact alone increases his chances of gaining the top job by 30 to 40 per cent. Shahroudi is also a seyed.