4HsSlrkHSc1 Author: Wang Jin opinion.huanqiu.com article Wang Jin: At a sensitive time in the Middle East, restraint by all parties is urgently needed /e3pmub6h5/e3pr9baf6 <article><section data type="rtext"><p>According to the statement of the Iranian government cabinet issued by the Iranian National News Agency on the 20th, Iranian President Lehi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abdullahian and others were killed in a helicopter accident on the 19th</ p> <p>On the same day, after the meeting between Iranian President Lehi and visiting Azerbaijani President Aliyev, an accident occurred on the way back to Tabriz, the provincial capital. It should be noted that the diplomatic activities before his death were aimed at improving Iran's relations with its northern neighbor Azerbaijan and achieving stability in the external environment</ p> <p>In recent years, Iran and Azerbaijan have obvious contradictions on a series of issues. In terms of bilateral relations, Iran accused Azerbaijan of threatening the political centripetal force of the Azerbaijani ethnic group in Iran; Azerbaijan criticized Iran for threatening Azerbaijan's national stability. In terms of regional policy, Iran believes that Azerbaijan has a close relationship with Israel for a long time and has become an "important stronghold" for Israeli intelligence agencies to infiltrate Iran; At the same time, Iran is also worried that Azerbaijan's attack on Armenia in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will break the regional political balance. Therefore, the talks between Lech and Aliyev have brought positive signs for improving bilateral relations and stabilizing regional situation. The inauguration ceremony of relevant cooperation projects also shows the easing of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan. However, Leahy's death has also brought new challenges to regional stability</ p> <adv-loader __attr__inner="7004636" __attr__style="width: auto; position: relative;float: left;border: 1px solid #ebebeb; padding: 20px;overflow: hidden;margin: 10px 30px 40px 0; "></adv-loader> <p>As far as Iran is concerned, according to the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, when the President dies, the Vice President will act as his deputy. The first vice president of Iran, Mukhber, has begun to exercise his power as "acting president", including presiding over relevant rescue meetings and deploying relevant rescue plans. Therefore, Leahy's sudden death did not affect Iran's overall political stability</ p> <p>However, it should not be ignored that Iran is currently facing a serious anti-terrorism situation and needs to be properly handled by the government. In the past period, there have been many terrorist attacks in Iran. According to Iranian media reports, these attacks were either funded by the Israeli intelligence agencies or planned and implemented by the extremist organization "Khorasan Branch of the Islamic State", posing a serious challenge to Iran's domestic political and social stability. After the terrorist attacks in 2022 and 2023, Iran launched attacks on the Kurdish Autonomous Region in neighboring Iraq to attack the hiding places of local extremists. During the special period when the President was killed, how to prevent terrorist organizations from taking the opportunity to plan attacks will be the key task of the Iranian government at present</ p> <p>From the outside of Iran and the Middle East, peace and stability are facing severe challenges. First, the Iranian nuclear issue is still pending, the nuclear negotiations have been in a stalemate for a long time, and regional tensions between Iran and the United States have been sustained for a long time. In particular, after the outbreak of the Russia Ukraine conflict in 2022, the contradiction between Iran and the United States and the West has further intensified. Therefore, how to eliminate the concerns of the international community and regional countries about Iran's nuclear capability, especially to avoid conflicts with the United States and other countries, will be a serious diplomatic issue for Iran</ p> <p>Second, the war between Israel and Palestine has not stopped. How Iran handles its relations with Israel is very important. The current round of Palestinian Israeli conflict, which broke out in October 2023, makes Iran face more complex and volatile international and regional situations. In particular, in April this year, Iran and Israel broke out a "mutual attack" war, which further escalated regional tensions. On May 20, after his visit to Saudi Arabia, American President's Assistant for National Security Affairs Sullivan visited Israel and held talks with Israeli Defense Minister Garrant and other Israeli officials in Tel Aviv. But Garrant made it clear in the talks that Israel was committed to expanding its ground operations in Rafah, the southern city of the Gaza Strip. In other words, Israel did not heed the warning of the United States not to launch military operations in Rafah. It can be said that the situation in Gaza directly affects the relations between Iran and Israel</ p> <p>For the international community and regional countries, especially those countries hostile to Iran, it will be crucial for the future development of the regional situation to exercise restraint and avoid stimulating Iran in words and actions. After the death of Leahy, all kinds of skepticism about "Israel planning attacks" and "the United States carrying out assassinations" on the international social media were flying. In particular, the United States, Israel and other countries need to exercise restraint and rationality at this moment to avoid escalation of conflicts due to their own statements or actions. The more sensitive it is in the Middle East, the more the international community needs to work together to maintain regional stability. (The author is a distinguished professor of the Belt and Road Research Center of Lanzhou University)</p></section></article> one trillion and seven hundred and sixteen billion two hundred and forty-one million six hundred and fifty-seven thousand five hundred and ninety-eight Copyrighted works of Globegroup are strictly prohibited from being reproduced or mirrored without written authorization. Violators will be investigated for legal responsibility. Editor in charge: Xiao Shan Global Times one trillion and seven hundred and sixteen billion two hundred and forty-seven million five hundred and ninety-five thousand five hundred and seventy-five one one []