[Global Times comprehensive report] On the 20th, the news that Iranian President Lehi and Foreign Minister Abdullahian were killed in a helicopter crash shocked the world. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced that Iran will mourn for five days. According to Iran's Mehr News Agency, the funeral of Lehi and his entourage will be held on the 21st. On the 20th, world leaders expressed condolences. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence to Iran's First Vice President Mukhber over the tragic death of Lehi in a helicopter accident. Xi Jinping, on behalf of the Chinese government and the Chinese people, expressed deep condolences and sincere condolences to the First Vice President Mukhber, the relatives of President Leahy and the Iranian government and people. In addition to being shocked by Leahy's sudden death, international public opinion also pays close attention to its impact on the situation in Iran and the Middle East. According to the description of western media such as CNN, Iran is facing greater economic pressure, and the tense relationship with Israel is in a "danger zone". Therefore, the death of Leahy is expected to bring more uncertainty to Iran. However, experts interviewed by the Global Times believe that because Iran's regulations on power transfer are very clear and the country's major policies are mainly decided by Khamenei, this incident is unlikely to lead to major unrest in Iran. Iran's policy on the international stage will not change significantly, including its position on the nuclear issue and the Gaza war.
The funeral is scheduled for today
According to Iranian state television, Lehi's helicopter and two other helicopters were travelling from Khoda Afalin County to Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan Province, when the incident occurred, and planned to attend the inauguration ceremony of a petrochemical complex. Earlier on the 19th, Leahy and Azerbaijani President Aliyev attended the completion ceremony of the reservoir dam in Khoda Afalin County. CNN said there were nine people on the crashed helicopter. According to Agence France Presse, the chief of the general staff of the Iranian armed forces, Sergei Bageri, ordered an investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash on the 20th.
After Lehi and his party confirmed the death, the Agence France Presse said that the Iranian state television began to broadcast the pictures of Lehi in the early morning of the 20th. CNN said that a photo released by the Yitong News Agency showed that in the emergency cabinet meeting held on the 20th, the seat where Leahy usually sat was empty, the seat was covered with a black ribbon, and a picture of Leahy was placed on the table. It is reported that all cultural and artistic activities in Iran have been suspended for 7 days. Iran canceled all sports events this week, sports officials said on the 20th.
According to Iran's Mehr News Agency, the funeral of Lehi and his entourage will be held in Tabriz on the 21st. CNN quoted the Fars News Agency of Iran as saying that a large team will escort Lehi and the bodies of other victims to Tabriz Airport on the morning of the 21st. Lehi's body will be sent to Mashhad, a city in northeastern Iran where Lehi was born.
On the 20th, Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence to Mukhber over the tragic death of Lehi in the helicopter accident. Xi Jinping pointed out that since President Leahy took office, he has made important contributions to safeguarding Iran's security and stability, promoting national development and prosperity, and has also made positive efforts to consolidate and deepen China Iran comprehensive strategic partnership. His tragic death is a great loss to the Iranian people, and also makes the Chinese people lose a good friend.
According to Agence France Presse reported on the 20th, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Lech "an outstanding political figure" and said his death was "an irreplaceable loss". Indian Prime Minister Modi said on the social platform on the 20th that he was "deeply saddened and shocked" by the death of Leahy, and "his contribution to strengthening India Iraq relations will always be remembered". Pakistani Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif said that his country would carry out one-day mourning and fly the flag at half mast to pay tribute to Lehi and other victims. Reuters said that Syria and Lebanon carried out three days of national mourning for Leahy. According to the foreign media, officials of the European Union, the International Atomic Energy Agency and other organizations, as well as leaders of Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Venezuela and other countries, expressed their condolences on the death of Leahy.
CNN said that Hamas, Yemeni Hussain armed forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon, supported by Iran, also spoke about the death of Lehi. Hamas said on the 20th that the organization believes that Iran can cope with the impact of this heavy loss because the Iranian people have strong institutions. A high-level member of the Husei armed forces extended "deepest condolences" to Iran. Hizbullah called Lehi the "Big Brother" of the organization, the "staunch supporter" and the "protector of the resistance movement".
"No interference"
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced on the 20th that his country's first vice president, Mukhber, would become the interim president. According to the regulations, the committee composed of the First Vice President, the Speaker and the head of the judiciary must arrange the election of a new president within a maximum of 50 days. Iran's election headquarters announced on the 20th that Iran is scheduled to hold a presidential election on June 28. According to the BBC, Ali Bageri Karni, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran and chief negotiator on the Iranian nuclear issue, was appointed Acting Foreign Minister. The Iranian government issued a statement on the 20th, saying that the Iranian government will continue to operate "without interference".
Al Jazeera TV introduced that Lehi, 63, who will become President of Iran in 2021, is a hardliner with deep ties to the judiciary and religious elites. Some analysts believe that Lech has always maintained the same position with Khamenei on international and domestic issues, and has taken a tough attitude on Iran's nuclear issue, opposition to the West and Israel, Middle East strategy and other matters. However, the New York Times mentioned that Leahy was open to negotiations, especially negotiations with the United States to return to the nuclear agreement and seek to cancel sanctions.
The Times of Israel believes that the impact of Abdullahian's death is also very significant. He is a very efficient foreign minister. Al Jazeera said that since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian Israeli conflict on October 7 last year, Abdullahian has been coordinating with allies in the Middle East region and communicating Iran's position to countries in the region. During the terms of Lehi and Abdullahian, Iran resumed diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.
The Israeli Times said that the crash was a dramatic development when the conflict in the Middle East was raging, but it may not have a significant impact on the regional situation, because the decision-making power of foreign policy and other matters is mainly within the scope of Khamenei's authority. CNN quoted Iranian journalist Aslani as saying that Iran will try its best to ensure "there will be no chaos". Tian Wenlin, a professor of the School of International Relations of Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on the 20th that Iran's ranking system is relatively clear and complete, which can prevent major political unrest in Iran.
Markovsky, the head of an American think tank, believes that Iran will be more "focused on domestic politics" in the next period of time. Wen Shaobiao, an assistant researcher at the Middle East Research Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, also told the Global Times that Iran's diplomacy will be affected in a short time. "As Iran needs to devote more energy to internal affairs such as electing a new president, its current negotiations with the United States may be stalled. This will also bring more uncertainty to the Palestinian Israeli conflict and the cooling of the regional situation ".
Officials: Not us
"The plane crash occurred at a time of tension in the region." CNN20 said that in the past seven months, the war between Israel and Hamas, as well as the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, caused strong concern in global public opinion, and led to an escalation of tension in the entire Middle East region. The conflict also made public the long-term "shadow war" between Iran and Israel. Last month, Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel. A week later, Israel launched a counterattack, but on a much smaller scale. At the same time, the sanctions led by the United States have brought a heavy blow to Iran.
The Associated Press said on the 20th that due to Western sanctions, Iran's aircraft are facing a shortage of spare parts. Because of this, former Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif said in an interview that the United States was one of the culprits of the tragedy. It "did not allow the Iranian people to enjoy good aviation facilities", and "these will be recorded on the list of crimes committed by the United States against Iranians".
There are also many speculations about the crash. The British Economist said on the 20th that "many things are still unclear", the first reason is the helicopter crash. At present, it is generally said that the weather is bad, but some Iranians also doubt Israel's role in it. On the 20th, the Russian "Izvestia" quoted American political analyst Rasmussen as saying, "If these senior Iranian personnel die, who will benefit?"
However, Pella, a political observer of Russia's tsargrad TV station, stressed some "cannot be ignored" facts: Iran has a very stable political system. Although the death of Leahy caused a heavy blow to the country, this will not change Iran's policy, but may lead it to take a tougher attitude, This result is unnecessary for the United States and Israel.
An Israeli official told Reuters that Israel had nothing to do with the Iranian helicopter accident, "not us". In addition, according to US media reports, Schumer, the majority leader of the US Senate, said that intelligence agencies told him that "there was no evidence of murder" in the crash.
[Huang Peizhao, Special Correspondent of the Global Times in Egypt, Bai Baiyi, Zhao Jueza, reporter of the Global Times, Ren Chong, Special Correspondent of the Global Times, Liu Yupeng]
