On Sunday, May 19, 2024, President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian crashed their helicopter in Iran’s Azerbaijan. They were returning from the Iran border with Azerbaijan to inaugurate a cooperative dam project. Including crew members, a total of 8 people died. Besides the president of Iran and its foreign minister, the people on board the helicopter were Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province Governor Malek Rahmati and representative of Iran’s Leader Khamenei to East Azerbaijan Ali Ale-Hashem.
The helicopter crashed in a wildlife corridor across the border of Azerbaijan, called the Dizmar Protected Area. Two of the three helicopters of Raisi’s convoy returned safely. It held Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Housing and Transportation Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash. It was believed that the factors for the crash were dense fog in a forested area and a lack of precaution for a decades-old helicopter. Iran has a long history of aviation incidents, where its economy was deeply impacted by US sanctions on Iran 45 years ago.
The bodies of Raisi and the others who passed away were brought to the capital city of Tabriz, located in the East Azerbaijan province of Iran. The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced that there would be five days of public mourning, and a funeral rite ceremony was held Tuesday, after the bodies were transferred to Tehran.
Iran’s President Raisi killed in a helicopter crash: What we know so far By Al Jazeera Staff, May 19, 2024
Thousands mourn Iran’s Raisi in Tabriz procession after helicopter crash By Al Jazeera Staff, May 21, 2024

Plans for Iran

Within 50 days, there will be an election for Iran’s new president. Currently, Mohammad Mokhber is taking over as the interim president of Iran, and Ali Bagheri Kani is taking over the role of foreign minister. Although an election for Iran’s leaders will take place, according to Al Jazeera, it is improbable that the people chosen as replacements for the previous president and foreign minister will change. They are prominent figures of the Raisi administration, closely associated with and praised by Khamenei. In this article, they also reviewed possible changes within the country’s domestic politics, international policies, etc.

Brief History

Iran’s Conflict/Relations with Israel

The week of April 14-15 of 2024, Iran retaliated against Israel with aerial attacks after an Israeli strike on Syria’s capital, a consulate in Damascus. The aerial attack was called Operation True Promise and was the first direct attack on Israel on Iran’s soil. Al Jazeera staff reported that “Israel’s chief military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said Iran’s attack involved more than 120 ballistic missiles, 170 drones, and more than 30 cruise missiles, according to a report by The Associated Press news agency.” Many of the drones sent by Iran were shot down by US and Jordan’s jets.

How Iran-Israel tensions have escalated since the war on Gaza: A timeline By Al Jazeera Staff, April 19, 2024
Supreme Leader Khamenei says Iran demonstrated its power against Israel By Al Jazeera Staff, April 21, 2024
Israeli strike in Iran’s Syria consulate kills 7, including 2 IRGC generals By Al Jazeera Staff, April 1, 2024
Iran attacks Israel with over 300 drones, missiles: What you need to know By Al Jazeera Staff, April 14, 2024

The CIA’s Involvement in Leading Iranian Dictatorship

Mohammad Mossadegh, the former Iranian prime minister, used a variety of social and economic policies that allowed for the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry. When he broke off relations and any negotiations with the British, the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s power, was reinstated after Mossadegh was overthrown. 

The U.S. and Great Britain instigated a coup in 1953 against Iran’s elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh. There have been many instances where the U.S. has inserted itself into the Middle East’s affairs. The reasons for other cases and this situation were to destabilize the Iranian government and nationalize the oil industry. In this circumstance, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) confessed they were directly involved in the coup on August 19, 2013. The British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/Ml6) was also directly involved for the same reasons, as Great Britain monopolized the country’s oil company, Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., for decades. The prime minister of Iran broke off relations with the British’s control over the oil industry, so they went to the U.S. for help. It resulted in the planned coup, facilitated and led by previous U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt‘s grandson, Officer Kermit Roosevelt Jr. 

Stephen Kinzer, author of All the Shah’s Men, described Roosevelt Jr.’s tactics of bribery and propaganda to dismantle the Iranian government through its press. To completely turn everybody against the Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh, Roosevelt Jr. manipulated the Islamic clergy to believe Mossadegh was a hazard to the country and successfully became allies with some of them.

Attempts at Removing Mossadegh From Power

In 1953, there were multiple attempts to overthrow Iran’s government, aided by Great Britain and the United States. Various people were complicit of being involved in the coup, and the document the CIA related to the public revealed how they carried out the coup. 

• Coup aided primary intelligence officials Donald Wilbur (American), Norman Darbyshire (British), General Fazlollah Zahedi, Rashidian brothers, and only a select few from the CIA and Ml6.
• The U.S. spread distrust through Iran with their budget of 150,000 to slander Mossadegh’s character, and spread propaganda that depicted him as Islamophobic, Communist, corrupt, and megalomaniac.
• Hired thugs to rally and combat Muslim leaders or influential figures, framing it as Mossadegh’s orders.
• Day of the 1953 coup, numerous Iranian civilians were paid to stage a rally against the government.
• Ordered General Zahedi to bribe soldiers and officers whenever the opportunity came to support the idea of him and the Shah in power.

The United States’ second attempt at apprehending Mossadegh was at night in his home, but Mossadegh quickly saw through their coup. He reassured everybody he was safe by announcing his victory on the radio. Roosevelt Jr. was still motivated, deciding to orchestrate a second coup that finally succeeded. It resulted in Mossadegh’s house arrest after he was placed on trial. While he was under house arrest, the Shah seized power for 25 years until the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Students and politics further justified the revolution due to the events that led to a coup against Mossadegh.

The overthrowing of the Iranian government in 1953 paved the path for events that’d lead to future dictatorship. Currently, Iran holds various accounts of crimes against humanity, facilitated by its government and allies.

How The CIA Overthrew Iran’s Democracy In 4 Days By Lawrence Wu and Michelle Lanz, February 7, 2019
The Nationalization of Iranian Oil By WordPress
Iran: One year after the death of Mahsa Amini By Maziar Motamedi, September 16, 2023