Tehran/New Delhi: Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash on Monday. Ibrahim Raisi died at a time when Tehran’s role in peace and stability in the Middle East region is being emphasized. Now the whole world, including India, will be watching who and how will be the next President of Iran? What is going on in Iran’s mind regarding Ibrahim Raisi’s successor, whether the new President will have a hardline image like Raisi or a liberal one like Hassan Rouhani, India is keeping a close eye on this and is watching it very closely and carefully.
In fact, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is the most powerful person in power in Iran and now he will have to take steps to correct the situation created by the sudden death of Ibrahim Raisi. 63-year-old Ibrahim Raisi was the President since August 2021. He was considered a leader with a radical image. Raisi was considered the successor of Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei. Now that he has died, all eyes will be on Supreme Leader Khamenei again and one of the top contenders for the presidency will be Supreme Leader’s son Mojtaba Khomeini.
Who will be the next president?
It is said about Mojtapa that he has kept a very low profile life. Not only this, he also lacks administrative experience. But after the departure of Ibrahim Raisi, he will be at the forefront in the race for the post of President in Iran. In recent months, everyone’s attention has been on Iran due to the events that happened after October 7. On October 7, Hamas attacked Israel and after this Israel retaliated and caused a massacre in Gaza.
Raisi has a radical image
According to the Indian Express report, many believe that Tehran had an imprint on Hamas attacks. Before becoming president, Raisi was the former Chief Justice and top prosecutor of Iran, who played a role in the mass execution of Iranian political prisoners in 1988. For this reason, Raisi was criticized and faced sanctions from the US. Since Raisi came to power in 2021, Iran has definitely turned to the right and adopted a radical stance.
Why did India remain connected with Iran?
Even though Iran had a radical government led by Raisi, India was actively engaged with him and his regime to secure its interests. In August 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Raisi in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. In this meeting, apart from other bilateral issues, the two leaders discussed the pending long-term contract on Chabahar Port and gave a clear political direction for finalizing and signing the Chabahar deal. Let us tell you that last week a deal was reached between New Delhi and Tehran for Chabahar port for 10 years.
When Iran released Indian sailors
At the same time, when Indian sailors on a Portuguese ship were imprisoned by the Iranian Navy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also negotiated with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian through meetings and phone calls and ensured their release. This was important to secure Indian interests. India and Iran have a long history of mutual relations and in recent times, contemporary relations between the two countries have improved further.
First meeting of Raisi and PM Modi
In recent years, relations between the two countries have been strengthened by the bilateral visit of Prime Minister Modi in 2016 and the reciprocal visit of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2018. PM Modi and Raisi first met in September 2022 on the sidelines of the SCO Heads of State Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, during which the two leaders expressed their commitment to bilateral cooperation, especially trade and connectivity. But due to Western sanctions on Iran, India has not been able to buy oil from Iran since 2018.
Tags: Ibrahim Raisi, Iran news
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 21, 2024, 06:58 IST