The Economist: Iranian President Had Long List Of Enemies

Few Iranians will mourn the deceased ruler.

The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will “shake Iranian politics”. It will force the regime to find a new president in short order at a difficult time, The Economist writes.

“Iran’s adversaries, including America, Israel and Saudi Arabia, are considering deepening their security links in order to counter Iran. The economy is sinking and could be hit further by tightening American sanctions. And Mr Raisi’s death could also throw Iran’s looming struggle into chaos, by removing one of the two leading candidates for Mr Khamenei’s job,” the analysts note.

The publication states that Mother Nature could well be the culprit. However, “nothing is ever as it seems” in Iranian politics, though, and “many Iranians have begun to speculate about more nefarious explanations”.

It is noted that Mr Raisi has a long list of internal enemies, who think he has been an inept president. It is not unreasonable to wonder if domestic foes conspired to kill him.

“Unsurprisingly, some Iranians have also wondered if Israel had a role in the crash. The two longtime foes came to blows last month, after Israel assassinated an Iranian general in Damascus and Iran retaliated with a volley of more than 300 missiles and drones aimed at Israel,” stated in the material.

The journalists also recall that Mossad, Israel’s spy service, has a long history of assassinating its enemies. But there are strong reasons to doubt Israel’s involvement.

“It has never gone so far as to assassinate a head of state, an unequivocal act of war that would invite a fierce Iranian response. It would be foolish to risk such consequences to kill Mr Raisi, a deeply unpopular politician who does not actually have the final say in many of Iran’s most important policy decisions,” the analysts believe.

The Economist also claims that few Iranians will mourn Raisi. They will remember him as the “hanging judge”, a prosecutor in Tehran who helped send thousands of political prisoners to the gallows in 1988. And they will remember his “clueless handling of the economy”.

“For years, hardliners had tried to ensure a smooth succession: they installed Mr Raisi as president and a crop of conservatives in parliament. Now they will have to find a new president at short notice, and some politicians will wonder if other politicians orchestrated the helicopter crash to advance their interests. There will be nervous days ahead for the regime,” the publication sums up.