According to state television, a helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister crashed on Sunday in the country’s mountainous northwest, exacerbating the unrest that has engulfed the country in recent months on both the domestic and international fronts.
Mr. Raisi, sixty-three, was on his way to open a cooperative dam project from Iran’s border with Azerbaijan. According to state media, the helicopter carrying Mr. Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian crashed in poor weather and dense fog close to Varzaghan at around 1 p.m. local time.
For over ten hours, search and rescue crews combed amid rain and fog in an area of lofty mountains and deep woodland. Due to bad weather, the authorities had to temporarily halt the airborne search. Instead, they used 40 rescue teams, special Revolutionary Guard commandos, and foot soldiers to find the crash site.
The president’s or anyone else’s condition had not been updated by official media, even after late hours of the night. Nor was the cause of the crash known.
In a speech broadcast on official television, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared, “There will be no disruption in the country’s operation.” “All of the country’s operations will continue smoothly and orderly. Senior officials are performing their duties, and I have given them the necessary advice.”
Many see Mr. Raisi, a conservative who brutally put down dissent, as a potential replacement for the supreme leader. His future is unknown at a time when Iran is going through a lot of turmoil.
When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, it triggered a conflict in Gaza and a series of assaults and counterstrikes throughout the region, bringing its protracted shadow war with Israel to a public display.
After Israel launched airstrikes on a structure inside the Iranian Embassy complex in Syria in April, tensions increased even more. After decades of hostility, Iran replied by attacking Israel directly for the first time, launching over 300 drones and missiles at the nation, many of which were shot down.
Iran is also experiencing a wave of popular unrest, with many citizens demanding an end to religious rule. Sanctions and corruption have destroyed the economy and increased dissatisfaction.
The last two years have seen the nation experience a terrorist attack that was the bloodiest since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979, a domestic rebellion, a record low for the Iranian currency, and worsening water shortages due to climate change.
According to Ali Vaez, the Iran head of the International Crisis Group, an independent organization that prevents conflicts, in the event of the president’s death, the vice president assumes office and elections must be held within 50 days.
He stated that this would be “a significant obstacle for a nation that is facing a serious crisis of legitimacy domestically and at knife-edges with Israel and the United States in the neighborhood.”
Hardline religious priest Mr. Raisi grew up amid the Islamic revolution in his homeland. As president, Mr. Raisi holds the second-highest authority in Iran’s political hierarchy, following Mr. Khamenei, the supreme leader, in the theocratic system.
Following his election to the presidency in 2021, Mr. Raisi solidified his hold on power and disenfranchised reformists who aimed to ease tensions with the West. He declared over and again that he adopted a policy of “strong diplomacy,” establishing stronger security and commercial connections with China and Russia.
Also read-
Iran’s regional influence grew under Mr. Raisi’s leadership, as the country advanced its nuclear program and supported proxies in the Middle East that carried out strikes against the United States and Israel.
During the same time period, Mr. Raisi led a massive and lethal assault on domestic protestors who had turned to the streets to oppose the nation’s governing clerics. Many of these protestors were women and young people. Rights organizations claimed that the country’s security forces had killed hundreds of protestors.
One of the front-runners to replace Mr. Khamenei as supreme leader is thought to be Mr. Raisi. The son of Mr. Khamenei is one of his primary competitors for the position.
Even with the downfall, some analysts said they didn’t think Iran’s foreign policy would shift significantly.
Analysts stated that the president’s authority stems from carrying out the decisions made by the nation’s highest leader, who is in charge of formulating all national policies.
According to Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group’s head of Iran, “at one level, the outcome does not portend a sea change in how Iran formulates and acts upon its interests abroad.”
“The president and other important stakeholders’ opinions are taken into consideration when the supreme leader makes strategic decisions regarding foreign policy.”
The foreign minister, Mr. Abdollahian, has taken a leading role in regional diplomacy with Arab nations. He had also just visited in Qatar with officials of the Iranian-backed militant groups, such as Hamas, the group that spearheaded the attack on Israel on October 7, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Additionally, he was holding covert indirect negotiations with the US in Oman in February and May to discuss easing tensions and lifting sanctions pertaining to Iran’s nuclear program.