Today has been declared the first of five national days of mourning in Iran following the tragic and fatal crash of a helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Friday prayers leader of Tebriz Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-e-Hashem, the Governor of East Azerbaijan Malek Rahmati and other security and crew members. The entourage was returning after opening a new dam at the border with Azerbaijan in the Khoda Afrin region. The bodies have now been transferred to Tebriz, where the funeral of the president and the officials accompanying him will take place on the 21st of May.
Although better known internationally as the President of Iran, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi has held various posts within the Iranian government, particularly within the scope of the judicial system, for example having been the 2nd First Deputy Chief Justice (1994–2004), Prosecutor-General (2014–2016), 7th Chief Justice (2019–2021). He was a proponent of conservative values, based on a strict interpretation of Islam. Even when protests against the mandatory hijab law and the case of Mahsa Amini were attracting international criticism of Iran, Raisi still maintained the necessity of hijab not only out of religious purposes, but also morally and legally. Notwithstanding his tough and principled approach to Iranian internal affairs, his term (2021–2024) as President of the Islamic Republic was marked with pragmatism; the historical nemeses of Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose relationship had been poisoned over the Sunni-Shi’a split and competition in the region (particularly keeping in mind their strong clashes in and over Syria and Yemen) for decades, saw an unprecedented development in their bilateral relations when China brokered their diplomatic rapprochement. This was announced shortly after Raisi’s February trip to China – the first trip to China of an Iranian president in more than 20 years. Such an approach of restoring relations along the lines of a good neighbourliness policy was not limited only to Saudi Arabia; it covered a number of other countries, including Kuwait, Libya, Egypt, Sudan and others, including post-Soviet states. Iran’s relations with Turkey also deepened, despite strong ongoing disagreements over Syria and the Caucasus region. Relations with Russia also reached a new level of deeper understanding and cooperation. Since the beginning of the Special Military Operation, Iran has fully supported Russia in more ways than one in the face of the shared confrontation with the Collective West. President Putin visited Teheran in July 2022, during which there were trilateral discussions with Turkey on Syria, as well as discussions between just the Russian and Iranian heads of state, which underlined their commitment to strengthening relations. In Putin’s expression of his condolences to Ayatollah Khamanei, he underlined the invaluable role of Raisi in the development of friendly relations between Russia and Iran, elevating them to a level of strategic partnership.
During Raisi’s tenure, Iran also became a full-fledged member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS, confirming Iran’s commitment to a fairer, polycentric world and solidifying the growing weight of non-Western-led organisations in today’s transitioning world. Iran became the 9th member of the SCO, the territory of the members of which spans over 65% of the Eurasian continent, with a population of over 3.5 billion people and accounting for around a quarter of global GDP. The BRICS bloc currently represents almost half of the world’s population and encompasses a larger share of global GDP, adjusted for PPP, (ca. 36%) than the G7 countries (ca. 30%). Iran also expanded economic ties with the Eurasian region, in 2023 having signed a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Previously, there was a temporary free trade agreement between Iran and EAEU member states, which had been prolonged in 2022, but 2023 saw the signing of a permanent agreement in this regard.
Raisi’s tenure also saw the first direct confrontation between the Islamic Republic and Israel, following the outbreak of Operation Toufan al-Aqsa in the Gaza Sector on the 7th of October 2023. The conflict between the two is decades-long, dating back to the Islamic Revolution in the late 70s, however, in April this year there was an unprecedented escalation of the conflict: after the Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, as a result of which several officials, including Major General Hohammed Reza Zahedi, and civilians died, Iran retaliated by launching a barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones aimed at Israel. Although many missiles and drones were shot down, including by Jordan, numerous targets inside Israel were hit. This grave regional escalation, in which Iran demonstrated that it will absolutely respond if threatened, forced scholars and international commentators to re-evaluate the regional situation and Iran’s role in regional and international affairs.
In 2022, Iran also finally received the GBP 400mn (USD 530mn), a historical debt owed to the country by Britain for decades. The debt was incurred as a result of the purchase of 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles by Iran from before the Islamic Revolution (1979), and almost none of the purchased items were actually delivered.
Iranian foreign policy under Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi (2021–2024) was characterised by pragmatism, a course of strengthening relations with neighbours and other important actors, notably Russi and China, expansion of economic ties first and foremost with regional and international partners within the framework of SCO, BRICS and the EAEU, as well as decisive military responses to mounting threats. This vector is expected to continue, as expressed in the statement of the Iranian government: “We assure the loyal, appreciative and dear Iranian people that the path of dignity and service will continue thanks to the spirit of the heroic martyr Raisi, and with the help of God Almighty and cooperation of the honorable people there will be no slightest defect or problem in the country’s management”. Currently, vice-president Mohammed Mokhber is serving as the acting president of Iran and, according to the Iranian constitution, a new president will be elected within 50 days.
Vanessa Sevidova, intern at the Institute of International Studies of the MGIMO MFA of Russia, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”