President of Iran Ibrahim Chairman On Could 19, he returned from a go to to Azerbaijan, the place he solemnly opened a dam on the border. Authorities have misplaced contact with him helicopter within the mountains Within the north of the nation. On the morning of Could 20, state media confirmed loss of life of Raisichapters International Ministry of Hossein Amirabdollahian and different officers.
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Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will function president till the elections. He traveled to Moscow in October 2023 and negotiated the provision of missiles and drones for the Russian military – identical to Raisi.
A cleric and prosecutor chargeable for quite a few executions of opposition figures, Raisi turned president in 2021. After his election, he strengthened morality legal guidelines, suppressed anti-government protests by girls, supported a proxy warfare towards Israel, and helped Moscow in its warfare towards Ukraine.
LIGA.web collected what the world press wrote about his loss of life.
The Economist: Why Raisi’s helicopter crashed
When Raisi gained a rigged presidential election, some Iranians believed it was only a stepping stone to the highest of energy. The previous (85 years previous) and ailing Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei doesn’t have a lot time left. After his loss of life, Raisi might take over this publish. However as a substitute of being catapulted to the best place, he died, writes The Economist.
His loss of life will shake Iranian politics. The regime should rapidly search for a brand new president in troublesome occasions – in any case, the nation is de facto in a regional warfare towards Israel. The nation’s financial system is falling and should undergo much more from tightening American sanctions.
Iranian rescuers on the crash web site (Picture: EPA-EFE/AZIN HAGHIGHI/MOJ NEWS)
Raisi’s loss of life might additionally result in chaos within the energy wrestle.
A lot remains to be unclear. For instance, why the helicopter crashed. The official model is the climate in the course of the flight: rain and fog, visibility of a number of meters. Situations are so unhealthy that rescuers they couldn’t fly in to look, and the drones couldn’t discover the scene of the accident. The Crimson Crescent despatched out search events on foot.
Nature could certainly be the perpetrator. However Raisi additionally had an extended checklist of inside enemies, from moderates whom he marginalized to conservatives who thought-about him a clumsy president.
Some Iranians are asking themselves whether or not Israel is concerned. Final month, the Israelis killed an Iranian common in Damascus, and Iran responded with an assault of greater than 300 missiles and drones aimed toward Israel.
The Mossad has an extended historical past of killing enemies, together with in Iran. However this time there’s good motive to doubt it. It by no means got here to the purpose of the Mossad killing a head of state, which might have provoked a brutal response. It might be silly to take such a threat to kill an unpopular politician who doesn’t have the ultimate say in Iran’s choices.
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Few Iranians will mourn the president. They bear in mind Raisi because the “hanging decide” – the Tehran prosecutor who helped execute hundreds of political prisoners in 1988. And attributable to financial mismanagement, he surrounded himself with navy males and clerics, which led to the rial dropping 55% of its worth in simply three years.
Raisi was a super candidate for the regime. Spiritual conservatives hoped to make use of him to advance their pursuits. Similar to the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan meet on the opening of a dam on the border. Raisi died whereas returning to Tehran (Picture: EPA-EFE/STRINGER)
International Coverage: What Raisi’s loss of life means for Iran
Iran, below Raisi’s management, supported Russia in its warfare towards Ukraine by exporting Shahed drones and different weapons. Assaults on Israel and US forces are additionally partly on his conscience, writes International Coverage.
Whoever replaces Raisi, the technique he professes won’t change: it’s enshrined within the highest echelons of political and clerical energy.
Motion of the Iranian diaspora close to the Iranian embassy in Berlin. Individuals rejoice over Raisi’s loss of life (Picture: EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER)
Earlier than changing into president, Raisi labored within the Iranian prosecutor’s workplace and was chargeable for the execution of about 5,000 dissidents. The UN accused him of crimes towards humanity. The US Treasury imposed sanctions.
Raisi’s sudden loss of life opens up the potential for upheaval at Iran’s prime brass. Particularly contemplating the brief line of doable successors to the 85-year-old Khamenei: other than his son Mojtaba, there aren’t any different candidates now. Which means the IRGC, which controls the primary sectors of the nation’s financial system, can strengthen its place.
NYT: President, Cleric and Protest Suppressor
Raisi’s presidency was formed by two essential occasions: the brutally suppressed protests of girls demanding an finish to clerical rule in 2022, and the warfare with Israel, writes The New York Instances.
Raisi didn’t set the nation’s regional coverage. However he inherited a regime that was increasing its affect by a community of proxy forces and a nuclear program that was quickly shifting towards the manufacturing of nuclear weapons.
Iranian rescuers on the crash web site (Picture: EPA-EFE/AZIN HAGHIGHI/MOJ NEWS)
He supported each insurance policies. He thought-about them crucial with the intention to keep Iran’s affect within the area and use leverage over the West.
Raisi was born within the northeastern metropolis of Mashhad right into a household of monks and studied on the seminary in Qumi. As an 18-year-old boy, he took half within the Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Shah. In 1981, he turned a decide, starting his ascent to the highest of politics.
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Like Ayatollah Khamenei and his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Raisi donned the black turban reserved for “sa’ids” – individuals purportedly descended from the Prophet Muhammad.
Raisi was supported by the hardline faction – and even by Ayatollah Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, who helps his father lead Iran. Dying paves the best way for Khamenei Jr. to comply with in his father’s footsteps.
The Atlantic: Who advantages from the loss of life of the Iranian president?
Iran doesn’t seem to be a rustic the place presidents die accidentally. However it is a nation the place planes crash because of the sorry state of the airline trade. In earlier years, no less than two ministers and two main navy commanders have been killed in related accidents. The “incident” with the president might very nicely have been an accident, writes The Atlantic.
Nonetheless, suspicions shall be inevitable. Airplane crashes that killed high-ranking officers in Northern Rhodesia (1961), China (1971), Pakistan (1988) and Poland (2010) are nonetheless the topic of hypothesis.
One query all the time stimulates them: who advantages from this loss of life?
Even when the reply to this query would not clarify why the helicopter crashed, it could make clear what’s subsequent for the nation.
Many predicted a violent energy wrestle in Iran, however most anticipated it to start after Khamenei’s loss of life. Now the world is ready for no less than its costume rehearsal.
Some Iranians are already celebrating Raisi’s loss of life with fireworks in Tehran. Nearly all of the nation’s inhabitants doesn’t really feel represented by any faction in energy and will use the disaster to reignite road protests. Social actions within the nation are exhausted after an extended wrestle – greater than 500 individuals died throughout protests in 2022-2023. However no matter kind the wrestle for energy on the prime takes, the individuals of Iran won’t be watching passively for lengthy.
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