--- description: Nicknamed “the butcher of Tehran,” the late Iranian President helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in 1988. title: Why Some Iranians Refuse to Mourn Ebrahim Raisi image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c044bde981e09f4/698a56f2929fad1921bfc89b/ebrahim-raisi-death-newspaper.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Iran](/tag/iran/) ## Iran Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Some Iranians Refuse to Mourn President Ebrahim Raisi by [Anna Gordon](/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Updated: Jan 19, 2026 1:44 PM CUTPublished: May 20, 2024 12:14 PM CUT  Newspapers cover the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on their headlines in the country's press in Tehran, Iran on May 20, 2024. Newspapers cover the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on their headlines in the country's press in Tehran, Iran on May 20, 2024.Fatemeh Bahrami–Anadolu/Getty Images by [Anna Gordon](/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Updated: Jan 19, 2026 1:44 PM CUTPublished: May 20, 2024 12:14 PM CUT Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a protege of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian [were killed](https://time.com/6979852/iran-president-ebrahim-raisi-dies-potential-suspects/ "undefined") in a [helicopter crash](https://news.sky.com/story/iranian-president-ebrahim-raisi-has-died-after-helicopter-crash-reports-13139669 "undefined") on Sunday. The pair were returning to Tehran after [attending a ceremony](https://apnews.com/article/helicopter-iran-raisi-crash-azerbaijan-3ef9fe5772fb06f6d9dcc371b115923f "undefined") with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the Iran-Azerbaijan border to inaugurate the building of the new Qiz Qalasi Dam. Khamenei said that the country would undergo a five-day mourning period. “This bitter tragedy took place while he was serving the people. The entire period that this great, self-sacrificing man held various responsibilities, both during his presidency and before that, he was totally dedicated to serving the people and Islam nonstop,” Khamenei [posted on his official X account](https://x.com/khamenei%5Fir/status/1792481683960217984 "undefined"). But for ordinary Iranians, Raisi leaves behind a controversial legacy. Nicknamed “[the butcher of Tehran](https://news.sky.com/story/ebrahim-raisi-who-is-iranian-president-13139409 "undefined"),” he helped oversee the mass executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 as the country’s then-deputy prosecutor general. He later referred to that period as “one of the proud achievements of the system” in a May 2018 lecture, [according to Amnesty International](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/9421/2018/en/ "undefined"). Raisi was seen as a hardliner, and one year after he became President, he ordered in 2022 authorities to [tighten their enforcement of Iran’s strict hijab laws](https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-women-dress-restrictions-raisi/31989759.html "undefined"). Weeks after the order, Mahsa Amini was killed in police custody after being arrested for allegedly improper hijab. Her death prompted [mass protests across the country](https://time.com/6275538/iran-protests-eyewitness-report/ "undefined"), with some publicly calling for the end of the regime. Some Iranians have even gone so far as to celebrate Raisi’s death. The daughters of Minoo Majidi, a 62-year-old woman killed during the September 2022 protests in Iran, [posted a video](https://x.com/mahsa%5Fpiraei/status/1792220356830212566 "undefined") of themselves toasting to his death. [Footage of fireworks going off](https://x.com/IranNW/status/1792239808284127277 "undefined") on the streets of one Iranian city were also circulating on social media, though they have yet to be independently verified. Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will automatically assume the presidency following Raisi’s death. But Iran faces a potentially major succession crisis, as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is 85 years old and [reportedly in poor health](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/world/middleeast/irans-supreme-leader-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-ill.html "undefined"). “Raisi's death poses two important challenges to the ruling order in Iran. 1) it will change the scenarios for succession and related to that 2) the hard right has no immediate candidate to succeed Raisi,” said Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of International Relations who specializes in Iran, in a [post on X](https://x.com/vali%5Fnasr/status/1792487991887491433 "undefined"). “That may open the door for conservatives, thus far sidelined, to make a comeback.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6980088/iran-president-ebrahim-raisi-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6980088/iran-president-ebrahim-raisi-death/"},"headline":"Why Some Iranians Refuse to Mourn President Ebrahim Raisi","datePublished":"2024-05-20T12:14:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-19T13:44:04.000Z","description":"Nicknamed “the butcher of Tehran,” the late Iranian President helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in 1988.","url":"https://time.com/6980088/iran-president-ebrahim-raisi-death/","keywords":["Iran","News","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c044bde981e09f4/698a56f2929fad1921bfc89b/ebrahim-raisi-death-newspaper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Anna Gordon","jobTitle":"Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/anna-gordon/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c044bde981e09f4/698a56f2929fad1921bfc89b/ebrahim-raisi-death-newspaper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Iranian president Raisi's death in a helicopter crash covered in newspapers headlines in Iran","caption":"Ebrahim Raisi death newspaper","creditText":"Fatemeh Bahrami–Anadolu/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/iran/","name":"Iran"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6980088/iran-president-ebrahim-raisi-death/","name":"Why Some Iranians Refuse to Mourn President Ebrahim Raisi"}}]}] ```