Ebrahim Raisi on Diplomatic Grounds with India
Raisi had Close relations… yet avoid playing into China’s hands
Iran, a victim of US sanctions, has naturally had close relations with China. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. Despite this, Raisi had decided from the very first day of his tenure that despite closeness with China, close relations with India will be maintained.
Raisi had invited PM Modi to his swearing-in ceremony. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had arrived at his swearing-in ceremony as PM Modi’s representative. During the period of instability in many countries like Afghanistan, Israel-Hamas, Yemen, Libya, President Ibrahim Raisi was seen cooperating closely with India. However, 50 days later, when the new President of Iran will be elected, it will be decided in which direction India’s relations with Iran will move forward now.
Host Pakistan given a setback on Kashmir
Last month, during Raisi’s visit to Pakistan, Kashmir was mentioned by Pakistan in a joint press statement, which Raisi did not support and remained limited to Gaza only. Later, when India sought clarification from his government, it was clearly said that Iran’s stand on Kashmir has not changed at all. In Islamabad, Kashmir was not a part of the joint statement but was a part of the statement of the Pakistani Prime Minister. In fact, Pakistan keeps trying to mobilize on the Kashmir issue in the name of Islam. But Raisi has never allowed the bilateral relations between Iran and India to be affected by Pakistan’s trickery.
Radical leader…reached the top of politics by advocating
Iran’s late President Ibrahim Raisi will be remembered as a leader who took power in Iran during the Covid pandemic. He saved the economy sinking under the burden of Western sanctions by selling oil to India-China and arms to Russia. He reactivated his nuclear program amid American threats. Born on December 14, 1960, Ibrahim Raisi was very close to Supreme Leader Khamenei. Due to his closeness, he was considered a possible successor of Khamenei. He was also a part of the 1988 Death Committee of political prisoners. According to Western countries, Raisi hanged more than 5,000 people, including many minors, through the committee. Therefore, Raisi has also been called the Butcher of Tehran in the western world. He became the Deputy Chief of the Supreme Court in 2004, the Advocate General in 2014 and the Chief Justice of Iran in 2019. In 2017, he lost the presidential election to Maulvi Hassan Rouhani. But, in 2021, he became the President by getting more than 63 percent of the votes.
Raisi was aboard a 45-year-old American helicopter
New Delhi. Iran has not yet expressed any suspicion of an attack on the death of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. At the same time, the US has also claimed from intelligence sources that it is an accident, not an attack. A clarification has also been issued by Israel that it has no hand in Raisi’s death in any way. Keep in mind that the accident happened at a time when there is tension between Israel and Iran. In such a situation, many questions are being raised about the time and place of the accident. The biggest question is being raised about the helicopter in which Raisi was travelling, because it was a 45-year-old Bell 212 helicopter made in the US.
India stands with Iran: Jaishankar
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar condoled the death of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and said that India stands with the people of Iran at the time of this tragedy. He said that it was a big shock to hear the news of the death of Iranian President Dr. Ibrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Amir Abdullahian. I had several meetings with them. I met them in January this year. Our condolences to their families.
The Congress is saddened and disappointed by the death of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Syed Ibrahim Raisi. We express our heartfelt condolences to his family. We stand with the people of Iran in this hour of grief.
- Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress President
Interim President Mohammad Mukhaber: Strategist of Iran’s nuclear program and arms deals
President Ibrahim Raisi appointed Mohammad Mukhaber as his most senior Vice President (First Vice President) in 2021. According to the Iranian Constitution, in the death or absence of the President, the First Vice President is made the interim President and elections for the post of President are held within 50 days.
68-year-old Mukhaber is considered to be the strategist of activating Iran’s nuclear program and arms deals with many countries including Russia. Mukhaber was associated with the government of the Shah of Iran before the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He was an officer in the Medical Corps of the Revolutionary Guard during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. Later, he started handling billions of dollars of business through bonyads and foundations established to use the donations received by Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini or the property and money seized from the Shah of Iran and political rivals.
In 2010, the European Union imposed sanctions on Makhber on charges of dealing in nuclear weapons and missiles. However, this ban was lifted in 2013. Makhber has been Iran’s special envoy to India.
