The news of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a plane crash took the world by surprise. The late Iranian President Raisi was playing a pivotal role in the rapidly changing world order. Iran’s relations with its neighbors were improving under his leadership. The progress and centrality that Iran gained in the emerging multipolar world due to his leadership made him, added to his popularity within his country and around the world. Iran’s regional and global rivals, including the Arab states, the United States, and its Middle Eastern proxy – Israel, were facing difficulties due to his audacious and visionary leadership. Under his presidency, Iran, for the first time in history, directly attacked Israel, adding insult to Israel and the US. However, the Iranian President died in a plane crash after his visit from Azerbaijan. The relations between Iran and Azerbaijan remained strained in the past. However, Raisi initiated a bilateral project to improve the relations between the two countries.
Raisi’s rising popularity and Iran’s increasing ties and influence at the regional level under his command perplexed the United States for a long time. Iran’s attack on Israel further infuriated the United States. The declaration of Iranian lawmakers about Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons has sparked new fear among the Western and Arab states. The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a plane crash sparked different conspiracy theories. One of the most popular conspiracy theories involves the alleged role of the United States or Israel behind the plane crash of the Iranian President. Israel has been involved in the assassination of numerous Iranian high-ranking officials in the past. Moreover, the United States has also been directly or indirectly involved in the killing of non-compliant leaders in the past. For Iran, this was not the first-ever incident of its kind. Soon after the 1979 revolution, a major explosion took the lives of several Iranian cabinet members and its parliamentarians. This was an attempt to deprive the nations of their visionary leaders.
The assassination attempt on Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia and a staunch critic of NATO’s expansion and aggression against Russia, cements the conspiracy theories about the alleged role of the United States behind the death of the Iranian President. The CIA had historically been accused of assassinating anti-US leaders. CIA’s attempts to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro are some of its most notorious operations. North Korea has also accused the CIA of attempting to kill its leader, Kim Jong-un. Moreover, assassination attempts on Muammar Gaddafi in 1986 and Saddam Hussain in 2003 are also among some famous CIA operations against their rival leaders. There is a widespread belief among Muslim nations that all the Muslim leaders who envisioned the creation of a Muslim bloc under the banner of OIC were killed by the US. Different events and the assassination of all of the founders of the OIC, by either means, suggest that this belief is right. What further bolsters these conspiracy theories is the audacious stance of some of the high-ranked US officials and politicians about “taking out” the non-complaint powerful leaders like President Putin. If they are brazenly talking about taking out a powerful President of a new superpower, how could the Iranian President and the Slovak Prime Minister be safe from their assassination attempts? President Raisi was using a 45-year-old US-made Bell 212 helicopter. It is true that Iran was unable to purchase the spare parts of the helicopter or to get it updated due to the economic sanctions imposed on it since the 1979 revolution. According to Turkey’s Transport Minister, the helicopter either didn’t have the Emergency Signal Transmission System or it did not turn on. However, it is unbelievable that Iran was using a helicopter without or with a broken-down Emergency Signal Transmission System to carry officials of such high rank.
Moreover, some sources suggest the unusual arrival of a US C130 in Azerbaijan closely around the time of the departure of the Iranian President. Some conspiracy theorists hold that the US might have used electronic warfare to force Raisi’s helicopter into a crash. The reason behind the widespread belief in these conspiracy theories is the unprecedented limited counterattack of Israel in response to Iran’s retaliation. On the other hand, some simply perceive that the US sanctions were the sole cause behind this incident. However, if the US involvement behind the plane crash of President Raisi is proven, it will have regional as well as global ramifications. Iran would not allow the United States or any of its allies to assassinate its top leadership. Any such scenario will result in escalation not only in the Middle East but also in the Red Sea. Iran-backed Houthis will increase their attacks on the Western ships to an unprecedented level. Moreover, the Hezbollah and other regional proxies of Iran will also increase their attacks on the US interests and Israel. Iran will also get an excuse to develop nuclear weapons. All this could lead to increased inflation and oil prices around the globe, along with expanding the war between the West and Iran beyond just the Middle East.
Abbas Hashemite – is a political observer and research analyst for regional and global geopolitical issues. He is currently working as an independent researcher and journalist, exclusively for “New Eastern Outlook”.