Ebrahim Raisi, ultra-conservative judiciary chief, set to be Iran’s next president

Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline judiciary chief with a brutal human rights record, has won Iran’s controversial presidential election, according to preliminary results announced by the interior ministry Saturday.

Raisi, who is currently under US sanctions, emerged as the frontrunner after an election supervisory body barred all of his serious rivals from the race. Analysts described the vote as the country’s most uncompetitive election since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

In 1988, Raisi was part of a four-person “death panel” that allegedly oversaw the mass execution of up to 5,000 political prisoners, according to rights groups. His two years as Iran’s chief justice were marked by the intensified repression of dissent and human rights abuses.