By Humaira Ahad

 

Tucked away in the quiet, serpentine alleys of Mashhad, the modest home of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi’s mother whispers of a family deeply tethered to the people. 

 

Even his own residence, set within a humble Tehran neighborhood, betrays no hint of power's extravagance—no security detail and no ornate symbols of power or privilege. 

 

The setting speaks volumes—a testament to a leader who refused to let the trappings of power distance him from his humble origins. He lived a life marked by simplicity and austerity.

 

Raeisi’s life stood as an eloquent testament that true dignity does not come from power or grandeur, but from the strength of remaining rooted and being at the service of people. 

 

Born in 1960 in the holy city of Mashhad, home to the magnificent shrine of the eighth Shia Imam, Ali ibn Musa Reza (AS), Raeisi was nurtured in an atmosphere steeped in faith and tradition. 

 

He pursued his scholarly path at the seminary in Qom, a cradle of Islamic learning where towering figures—among them the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei—shaped his intellectual and spiritual growth. 

 

From a young age, Raeisi was captivated by the revolutionary vision of Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, whose teachings left an indelible mark on his consciousness.

 

Those close to him often recall how thoroughly Raeisi had internalized Imam Khomeini’s message: a vision grounded in justice, reason, spirituality, ethics, and the inherent dignity of every human being. 

 

That ideological foundation would later become the compass by which he steered his unwavering support for the oppressed of the world and those resisting the oppression, and the lens through which he forged the policies of his presidency.

Deep faith in the Islamic Revolution

 

Throughout his presidency, Raeisi anchored Iran’s foreign policy in the principle of defa-al-mostazafin—the defense of the oppressed—a doctrine deeply embedded in Imam Khomeini’s revolutionary ideology. 

 

For Raeisi, this was far more than a political choice; it was a spiritual and universal human mandate.

 

“Supporting the oppressed is not merely a political stance, it is a Quranic imperative,” he declared in a historic speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023, just weeks before the Al Aqsa Storm operation.

 

“In the field of resistance, he strongly defended military, economic, and cultural support for the liberation movements. He was the voice of the oppressed Muslims worldwide," said Reyhaneh Sadat Raeisi, the late president's daughter, in an exclusive interview with the Press TV website.

 

"His stance was evident in his courageous speeches in Russia’s State Duma and at the United Nations.” 

 

Sadat emphasized her late father’s profound sense of duty toward oppressed Muslims worldwide.

 

“He saw himself responsible, like a father, for every incident in the Islamic world. He considered himself the guardian of situations like what happened in Gaza in particular," she said. 

 

Throughout his leadership, Raeisi was distinguished by his consistent advocacy for oppressed people, always endeavoring to uphold the revolutionary tenets of the Islamic Republic.

 

Under his administration, Iran amplified its moral commitment to marginalized groups. Analysts note that Raeisi’s vision transcended geopolitics, grounded in an unwavering commitment to social justice. 

 

His prior role as Iran’s judiciary chief had only deepened his belief in governance driven by fairness and integrity, which was praised by all and sundry.

 

For Raeisi, supporting the mostazafin—the downtrodden—was not a diplomatic maneuver but a sacred responsibility. His unwavering support for resistance movements in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq was a reflection of this principle.

“The Islamic Republic’s government during the time of the honourable martyr paid special attention to assisting others and sent the first aid shipments to Gaza. Of course, when the passageways were closed, many supplies from the Red Crescent that had been sent were blocked, as the pathways were restricted," Sadat said, speaking about Raeisi’s unflinching dedication to the Palestinian cause. 

 

The late Iranian president's support for the oppressed was not confined to his presidency alone. He was always the voice of the oppressed and voiceless. 

 

“Even at other times, when he (Raeisi) was the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi (2016–2019), he utilized his role to provide structural support for the resistance and sometimes even turned the circumstances in favour of the resistance,” Sadat told the Press TV website. 

 

Championing the Palestinian cause

 

To Raeisi, Palestine symbolized the most glaring case of global injustice, and the struggle of its people embodied the essence of human dignity. “Resistance is a right, and submission to tyranny, a betrayal of faith,” Raeisi would often assert.

 

In the aftermath of the events of October 7, 2023, and the Al-Aqsa Storm operation launched by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, Raeisi extended unwavering support to them. 

 

“The Al-Aqsa Storm operation was a major security, military, and intelligence failure for the Zionist regime,” he stated during a cabinet meeting on October 8. 

 

In subsequent speeches, he hailed the operation as a defining moment in regional history—one that dismantled the illusion of the Zionist regime’s perceived invincibility. 

 

He believed the operation would breathe new life into the resistance and ignite the spirit of defiance in future generations of the campaigners of truth and justice. 

 

“There is no other way but to resist Israel,” Raeisi declared during a November 2023 emergency summit in Riyadh, where he commended Hamas for its retaliatory operations. 

 

He emphasized that resistance transcended individuals or factions—it was a force embedded in the soul and blood of the Palestinian people, a flame that could not be extinguished.

 

During meetings with media outlets and foreign dignitaries in late 2023, Raeisi emphasized that the Palestinian issue had evolved beyond a regional or religious concern.

He cast it as a universal humanitarian crisis, noting how the growing awareness of Gaza’s plight was drawing empathy and solidarity from diverse global communities, including many outside the Muslim world.

 

Raeisi had come to be regarded not merely as a statesman but as a beacon of principled resistance and moral clarity. 

 

“Not only in the Islamic world but in various parts of the freedom-seeking world, this personality (Raeisi) became significant to them and turned into a role model—for courage and for creating dignified authority,” Sadat told the Press TV website, contemplating her father's global legacy.

 

In his speeches to both the Iranian public and Muslim leaders abroad, Raeisi framed resistance as the only ethical response to the tyranny of Western imperialism and Zionism. 

 

“Why do you not support a people fighting a legitimate battle for their land?” he asked in an interview with Arabian media. 

 

“It is the Palestinian people who fight, who sacrifice. We only stand beside them. The support is just and based on humane and Islamic principles,” he said, defending Iran’s ethical alignment with the resistance.

 

A voice against Western hegemony

 

Raeisi’s presidency was marked by his unflinching opposition to global power structures—especially Western imperialism and the Zionist enterprise, which he saw as the architects of modern injustice. 

 

To him, Western backing of the child-murdering Zionist regime wasn’t just a policy—it was symptomatic of a deeper, structural inequity embedded in Western liberalism.

 

He vocally criticized the West’s double standards, especially its unwavering support for Israel during its genocidal campaign in Gaza. Raeisi pointed to the stark hypocrisy in promoting human rights while enabling military aggression.

 

“The Americans tell others not to interfere in the war, yet they provide full support to the Zionists, equipment and facilities needed by the Zionists for their criminal acts in Gaza before the eyes of the people of the world,” he once said in an interview.

 

“The crimes of the Zionists in Gaza today expose the true face of Western racism,” Raeisi remarked during an October 2023 meeting with Niger’s Foreign Minister.

 

In Algeria (March 2024) and Tunisia (December 2023), he pointed to a “global structure” of injustice behind Gaza’s suffering and urged Muslim nations to cut ties with the “Zionist regime” as a necessary step toward justice.

 

“How can those who claim to defend democracy and humanity justify their full military, financial, and diplomatic support to a regime that drops bombs on hospitals and starves children in Gaza?” he remarked at a global summit in late 2023.

Raeisi consistently championed the creation of a “just global order” in his diplomatic engagements with leaders from Africa, Latin America, and the Islamic world, advocating a world shaped not by militaristic dominance but by equity, ethics, and human dignity.

 

He often argued that Western hegemony extended beyond politics into the psychological, cultural, and epistemological realms. Western media, he said, shaped narratives that distorted the truth, often casting the oppressed as aggressors.

 

This critique was inextricably tied to his support for resistance movements, which he viewed as rightful responses to occupation and systemic domination.

 

One of the most powerful moments of his worldview came during his iconic speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023. 

 

Holding aloft the Holy Qur’an in protest against its desecration in Sweden—an act shielded under so-called “freedom of speech”—Raeisi struck a chord across the Muslim world. 

 

For him, this was not an isolated act of blasphemy but part of a broader, calculated disregard for Islamic sanctities—a cultural manifestation of Western double standards.

 

“This is not freedom of speech; this is an assault on the sanctities of 1.8 billion people,” he declared in his speech. 

 

“Those who allow this desecration under the banner of liberty expose their colonial arrogance. They pretend to be guardians of civilization while trampling on the very values they claim to uphold.”

 

Raeisi’s message found resonance across the world, especially the Global South—from Latin America and Africa to West Asia. He always presented himself not just as a politician, but as a religious scholar wielding power in service of the faithful. 

 

This vision informed a foreign policy rooted in solidarity with the downtrodden and resistance to imperialism.

 

His unshakeable stance earned him admiration from diverse international communities who saw in him a rare fusion of moral courage and leadership.

 

“He (Raeisi) constantly referred to himself as a humble cleric, someone who wants to be identified in the attire of religion, while occupying the highest level of political leadership," said Sadat, reflecting on the broader appeal of a man whose legacy now spans continents.

 

"That’s why the inclination of Muslim nations toward him increased significantly, as did that of the broader Islamic Ummah and also freedom-seeking nations, who felt a sense of brotherhood with him, especially in countries like those in Latin America and Africa."

 

Press TV’s website