Ebrahim Raisi was killed along with 8 others, including the Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash on Sunday 19th May’24
The President of Iran – Ebrahim Raisi was killed along with 8 others, including the Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash on Sunday, i.e., 19th May’24.
Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian were returning from a ceremony to open a dam on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan to the city of Tabriz. Among those on board were three crew members, the Governor of East Azerbaijan Province, An Imam, Raisi’s Head of Security, and a Bodyguard.
At the time of the helicopter’s crash, low-hanging clouds and cooler-than-average temperatures were present across the Northwestern region of Iran. While reliable weather data is difficult to obtain in the higher parts of the country, Tabriz, the closest major city to the crash, showed below-average temperatures of 9.2 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) around the time of the crash.
Expressing grief, the President of Saudi Arabia – His Highness Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, tweeted, “I extend my deepest condolences to the Iranian government and people over the passing of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and those accompanying them following a tragic accident. We pray that God grants them eternal rest and we extend our heartfelt sympathies to their families. The UAE stands in solidarity with Iran at this difficult time.”
The death of Raisi, a staunch conservative and protégé of Supreme Leader of Iran – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is anticipated to exacerbate the existing uncertainty in a nation already grappling with severe economic and political challenges, amid escalating tensions with neighbouring Israel.
Israel’s war against Hamas and the subsequent humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Gaza over the last 7 months has inflamed global opinion and sent tensions soaring across the Middle East. Last month, Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel in response to a deadly apparent Israeli airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus that killed a top Commander in Iran’s Elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Israel struck back a week later, hitting targets outside the Iranian city of Isfahan with a much smaller, calibrated response. Since then the tit-for-tat direct strikes between the two have stopped. But the proxy war continues with Iran-backed militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah continuing to fight Israel’s forces.
Besides, Iran was convulsed by youth-led demonstrations against clerical rule and worsening economic conditions following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s notorious morality police. Iranian authorities have since launched a widening crackdown on dissent in response to the protests. According to the U.N., the crackdown has led to human rights violations, some of which amount to “crimes against humanity”. The protests have largely stopped now but the opposition to clerical leadership remains deeply entrenched among many Iranians, especially the young, who yearn for reform, jobs and a move away from stifling religious rule.
Raisi was elected as the President in 2021 in a vote heavily engineered by the Islamic Republic’s political elite so that he would run virtually uncontested. He defeated a more moderate candidate and his victory was seen to signal the start of a new harder-line era in Iran.
As per the Constitution of Iran, the Vice President – Mohammad Mokhbar, will assume the position of Interim President. Besides, the Vice President, Speaker of the Parliament and the Head of the Judiciary must arrange for an election to choose a new leader within 50 days of the Vice President assuming the role of Interim President.
