Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have been killed in a helicopter crash in north-western Iran, according to the country’s state media. The news that Raisi – second only to the country’s supreme leader in the power structure – and Amir-Abdollahian – a critical and influential figure in the ruling circle – have died could not have come at a trickier and potentially more dangerous time.
Iran is already facing huge challenges politically and economically, and the supreme leader, the font of all power and authority, is in poor health. It can ill afford to lose its president and foreign minister. This is a moment fraught with uncertainty for the entire Middle East region as well as the international community.
Both men were returning from a ceremony for the opening of a dam on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.
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