The death of Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash earlier this week has been met with plenty of dry eyes.
Even the ABC showed little sympathy over the death of ‘The Butcher of Tehran’ with its headline: For Ebrahim Raisi, the ‘Butcher of Tehran’, life was one brutal rise. Then he came in for a ‘hard landing’.
It is the first time that an acting president has been killed in Iran, with the situation being especially dangerous for a deeply unpopular and cruel government.
Like so many disingenuous dictators, Raisi promised to fight discrimination, corruption, and poverty – but ended up soaked in the blood of political prisoners and dissidents who desired nothing more than a normal life.
Under Raisi’s rule, the ‘morality police’ harassed women and revoked their former liberties with hijabs and chastity laws dragging women back a thousand years to comply with Islam. And still, Western protesters in universities don these garments out of respect for Islam while women living inside Islam burn their hijabs on social media. Who can forget the protests for slain Mahsa Amini when she was beaten by authorities for allegedly not wearing a hijab?
Also killed in the crash was Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdolahian.
The vacuum of power is expected to be immediately filled by the First Vice-President, Mohammad Mokhber, with election set by law within the next 50 days.
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Little is known about the helicopter crash, except that it took place while returning from the Azerbaijan border after attending a ceremony for a dam. The region is mountainous with frequent bad weather. ‘All resources’, including the Revolutionary Guards, were sent to the search area. Once found, it was quickly concluded that there were no survivors.
The weather was bad with a heavy fog, and it is possible that this is genuinely the cause of the crash. Regardless, it will do little to quell speculation about which of Raisi’s many enemies may have nudged the helicopter closer to the ground.
There is even speculation that the helicopter itself might have been substandard and old, given Iran’s politics which has isolated it from supply lines needed to gain access to parts.
Videos have been posted in celebration of Raisi’s death from those who were brutally subjugated. Other hardline, and arguably cruel leaders, have offered their condolences.
‘I convey my best wishes to our neighbour, friend, and brother – Iranian people and government,’ said Erdoğan, President of Turkey.
As for whether or not there was foreign interference in the crash, suggestions of Israeli involvement were dismissed by The Australian’s Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan on The Bolt Report last night.
‘I think that’s extremely unlikely [that Israel brought down the helicopter]. Israel has not targeted Iranian government leaders. It has, on occasion, in the past, targeted military leaders. Especially from Iran and especially when they are in Syria and conducting operations against Israel. Or if they are in Iraq doing the same thing. This would be a very radical departure for Israel and I don’t think there’d be much upside for it.’
