The Islamic Republic of Iran was preparing the funeral ceremonies of its late President Ebrahim Raisi who died along with others in a helicopter accident on April 19th. The crash of the Bell 212 helicopter belonging to the country’s air force had taken place as the President was returning from an official visit in the country’s northwestern mountainous region bordering Azerbaidjan. It is believed that extremely poor visibility had caused the helicopter to collide with mountainous terrain, killing all twelve (12) people on board, including the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
An investigation has yet to determine the real causes of the accident as initial reports of sunday accident have indicated that the Presidential helicopter had only suffered a hard landing while travelling as part of a formation of three helicopters all carrying high ranking officials.
According to CNN, Ebrahim Raisi who was elected President in 2021 was considered a “ultraconservative cleric”, who at the age of 63 was seen as a credible successor to the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who is aged 86.
Since the Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Shah in 1979, the country has been considered an Islamic theocracy upholding the Shia Islamic tradition. A difference exists between the Shia and the Sunni traditions of Islam, with the later being readily found for instance, governing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In a strong display of the country’s governement’s continuity of operations, Mohammad Mokhber, the first Vice-President assumed presidential authority on May 20th, until a presidential election is organized within six (6) months.
The Bell 212 helicopter involved in the crash is part of large quantities of military equipment acquired from the United States prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran was then one of the strongest US military ally and thanks to its close geographic proximity with the Soviet Union, received high priority in US weapons shipment list. The revolution and the ensuing embargo imposed by the US allowed the country obsolescent military equipment to degrade mainly from parts shortages.
On April 13th 2024, Iran launched striles against Israel in apparent retaliation for the destruction on April 1st of its Embassy in Damascus, which was attributed to an Israeli Air Force strike. For the attack against Israel, Iran launched a large scale attack combining waves upon waves of suicide Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, ballistic and cruise missiles. The strike package was ably defeated by Israel’s multi layer integrated air defense system assisted by some US military assets, (possibly F-15Es aircraft of the 494th and 303rd expeditionary squadrons and US Navy Aegis destroyers).
Run with very little tolerance for internal political dissent, the Islamic Republic has lately faced strong contestations while its regional policies has been shaped by an unspoken state of war with Israel which this past april turned to direct confrontation. In the region, Iran is considered to be the main political and military support of various military groups including the Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Hamas movement and also the Bashar Al Assad regime in Syria.