Israel and Iran in conflict

[Bruce G Charlton]

This is one of those events when the geopolitical importance derives from what certain key players believe about the event.

What Western people (especially officials and journalists) say or write about what happened has no relevance to these conclusions and any actions that follow - except that whatever they say or write is certain to be dishonest and misleading, and everybody relevant knows that for a fact.

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
It is no secret that Baku's occupation of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) has heralded the entrance of Israel to this sensitive region north of Iran.

Israel was the key military and diplomatic backer of Azerbaijan's campaign to seize this critical territory and its 138km border with Iran.

An earlier 2016 attempt failed in four days, as Armenia had a pro-Artsakh gov't, but found legs four years later, with anti-Artsakh Pashinyan installed in Yerevan.

Though the 2020 war, Israel finally got in Artsakh what Iran had in south Lebanon: an outpost directly on its enemy's border.

Armenian and Russian forces were withdrawn over the past three years, the former by Pashinyan's order, and the latter by Pashinyan's treasonous decision to recognize Artsakh as Azerbaijan.

Aliyev during this time period presided over construction of not one, not two, but three, airbases in the territory, and Israel began to build a "smart city" on the border with Iran.

Iran has tried to maintain the minimum of diplomatic engagement with Baku, while setting red lines regarding the last sliver of a border with Armenia, hence Iranian President Raisi's acceptance to inaugurate new infrastructure with Aliyev on the border this morning.


https://x.com/AliTahmizian/status/1792300671095513594

[Ravenlocke]

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What could have caused Raisi’s helicopter crash? Decorated Russian pilot weighs in

Helicopters are all-weather vehicles, Vadim Bazykin, an honored Russian helicopter test pilot, tells Russian media as he comments on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s crash.

“A helicopter’s weakest point is, unfortunately, the crew because not many pilots are able to fly in bad weather,” Bazykin says, adding that an experienced crew should know the ABC of flying over mountainous terrain.

When entering an area with dense fog, pilots are obliged to calculate a safe height, he explains. According to him, Raisi’s helicopter seems to have flown below the permissible height.

“The fog is usually only 300-500 meters thick. The pilots should have checked meticulously if there was any chance to land and if not – they should have flown back. There are no other options,” the expert underscores.

Touching upon a possible technical defect of Raisi’s US-made Bell-212 helicopter, Bazykin emphasizes that security comes first when it comes to presidential vehicles.

He adds that even though the presidential helicopter was “a very reliable” yet outdated vehicle, it was almost surely equipped with new engines because of security considerations. “So there is no need to blame technical problems that caused the crash of Raisi’s vehicle," the expert concludes.


https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792600121084981565

[Ravenlocke]

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Hossein Amir Abdollahian as head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry: What will he be remembered for?

Abdollahian took over the post of foreign minister with the accession of President Ebrahim Raisi in 2021. Together, they built Iran's up-to-date foreign policy.

Sputnik has collected some of his most important moments to remember:

◾️Before coming to the post of foreign minister, Abdollahian specialized in relations with Arab countries;

◾️With his work, it became possible to normalize relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia in 2023, which had been extremely tense for several decades. At the same time, the two countries were able to establish bilateral trade and economic cooperation and also agreed on mutual understanding in matters of regional security;

◾️Iran became a member of the SCO (2023) and BRICS (2024);

◾️ In 2023, key visits to Moscow and Beijing took place for the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. On May 14, a few days before his death, Abdollahian announced Iran’s desire to develop a partnership with India within the SCO and BRICS;

◾️With the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in 2022, he openly expressed support for Russia. In negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in 2023, Abdollahian emphasized the “record figures with 20% growth” of trade turnover;

◾️Abdollahian regularly criticized the work of the UN Security Council - in particular due to its failure to put pressure on Israel and promptly help the Gaza population during current war;

◾️He was distinguished by sharp criticism of the policies of the collective West - primarily the US and Israel. In particular, he accused the US of "publicly supporting the killing of thousands of children and women in the Gaza Strip" by Israel;

◾️After the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Abdollahian promised "a proportionate response". A week after the strike, he personally flew to Damascus to open a new consulate in Syria.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792561031971000383

[Ravenlocke]

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Late Iran foreign minister’s drive to bolster ties with Saudi Arabia was ‘thorn in Israel’s side’ – professor

In terms of the consequences of the passing of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister, “let’s not forget Hossein Ameer Abdullahian was a seasoned diplomat,” Dr Alexander Azadgan, US-based professor of International Political Economy and chief geopolitical counsel with the Serbian Center for Strategic Studies, told Sputnik.

Ameer Abdullahian was “quite instrumental in his shuttle diplomacy in bringing Iran and Saudi Arabia together, a thorn at the side of Israel,” Azadgan stressed.

“Many, perhaps, may not be aware of the tremendous hard work and diplomacy that Dr Ameer Abdullahian played in terms of avoiding war between Iran and Azerbaijan. It's so ironic that this helicopter crashed at the Iran-Azerbaijan border,” the professor added.

According to him, “It's fascinating, how important of a role this country [Iran] has in the grand geopolitical games. Iran is a signatory to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and it has just became a member of the BRICS”, which also includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

“Iran wants to be instrumental in the Road and Belt initiative of the Chinese. Iran has very close relationship with Russia. And we all know the tremendous tension between Iran and the US during the past 45 years,” Azadgan said.


https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792547480162205921

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792479214953808146

[Ravenlocke]

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Iranian President Raisi: What is his legacy?

Raisi's political course of action was friendship with neighbors and regional allied powers, but not Europe and the West.

Under Ebrahim Raisi:

🔺Iran became a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO);

🔺Iran became a member of BRICS;

🔺Iran has become a major stakeholder in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU);

🔺Iran has managed to resume and strengthen diplomatic relations with a number of Arab neighbors and African countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Djibouti, Maldives;

🔺Iran made the British pay their debt: £400 million for the contract to supply Chieftain tanks, which was canceled in 1979;

🔺Iran has maximized oil production, even exceeding the sanctions level: 3.4 million barrels per day;

🔺It was under President Raisi that Iran for the first time conducted a large-scale operation against Israel - firing rockets from its territory;

🔺Russian-Iranian relations have reached a new level both in military-political cooperation and trade: trade turnover between Moscow and Tehran has grown to $4 billion; a visa-free regime for tourists has also begun to operate between the countries.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792437045849169936

[Ravenlocke]

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Iran president’s death may have ‘serious consequences internationally’ – professor

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian died in Sunday’s helicopter crash in the Islamic Republic’s East Azerbaijan province, Vice President Mohsen Mansouri has confirmed.

The entire nation was keeping an eagle eye on the situation after the news about the presidential helicopter’s “hard landing” was broken, Foad Izadi, associate professor at the Department of American Studies, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran, told Sputnik.

“Last night I was going to television stations and on my way to the stations, and coming back home, I was seeing people in different squares gathering, praying for him,” Izadi said.

“People are, of course, concerned - people who voted for him, of course, liked him, people who did not vote for him, don't want to see the president of a country passing away in this manner,” according to the pundit.

Reflecting on what could have caused the crash, Izadi singled out bad weather conditions, technical troubles and an act of sabotage.

“It could be the weather - the weather was very bad yesterday in that region, it could be a malfunction of the helicopter, or it could be sabotage. If it's sabotage, then it's going to have serious consequences internationally,” the associate professor pointed out.

President Raisi “was also liked by many outside Iran because of his support for Palestinian cause, because of his culture of resistance against American imperialism. So I think […] he will he remembered by many people outside Iran,” Izadi concluded.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792428354408153540

[Ravenlocke]

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Iranian president Raisi’s helicopter crash: what we know so far

Iranian Vice President Mohsen Mansouri has confirmed reports of the death of the country’s President Ebrahim Raisi and his delegation in a helicopter crash.

🔸 Earlier, Pir-Hossein Koulivand, head of the country’s Red Crescent Society, said there was "no sign of life" at the crash site of a helicopter that carried President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian of Iran

🔸 "President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash... unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead," an unnamed Iranian official earlier told Reuters

🔸 In addition to Raisi and Amirabdollahian, the imam of Tabriz, Mohammad-Ali Al-Hashem, the head of the East Azerbaijan province, Malek Rahmati, the helicopter crew and one security officer were on board the helicopter, per the Mehr news agency

🔸 The Iranian president’s helicopter made a "hard landin" on Sunday after it got into trouble in heavy fog

🔸 The incident took place near the city of Jolfa, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital Tehran

🔸 Raisi was heading to the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran, after returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the in the Iran-Azerbaijan border area with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev

🔸 Three helicopters were in the convoy, and the two others, which carried Iranian Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Housing and Transportation Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, reached destination without problems

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792428089655390620

[Ravenlocke]

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Iranian President Raisi predicted NATO collapse in speech to Russian State Duma

On January 2022, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi addressed the Russian State Duma during an official visit to Moscow. He criticized the actions of the Western alliance and predicted that the current behavior of the bloc will lead to its eventual collapse.

"NATO is infiltrating the geographical space of various countries under various pretexts and covers, threatens independent nations, spreads the so-called 'Western model'. They oppose independent democracies, oppose the self-identification of peoples, cultures, traditions - all of this is on the NATO agenda, and this is a lie. We see the deceit in their behavior, and this behavior will ultimately lead to the alliance's disintegration," he said.

Raisi condemned the West's efforts to impose hegemony on other countries, including through sanctions, and called on independent states to unite against this aggression.

"Currently, we see that the strategy of dominance has failed and US is in its weakest position. The power of independent states is further developed. We are going through a historical period of development."

Raisi also stressed that the Western countries will not lose their intention to continue their expansionist policies. According to him, their aim is to weaken independent states by imposing economic sanctions and destabilizing the internal situation.

Iranian President Raisi died on May 19 in a helicopter crash in the province of East Azerbaijan. Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdollahian, Governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan Province Malik Rahmati, and Imam of the city of Tabriz Mohammad Ali al-Hashem also died in the helicopter crash.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792506873163272458

[Ravenlocke]

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Who is Iran's Interim President Mohammad Mokhber?

After confirming the news of President Ebrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash and following Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's approval, Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber has assumed the duties of the president during the next 50 days until elections are held.

🟠 Mohammad Mokhber was born in 1955 in the city of Dizful;

🟠 He served as an officer in the Revolutionary Guard medical corps during the Iran-Iraq war;

🟠 The official holds a doctorate in economic development management and planning, as well as another in international law;

🟠 He also served as vice president of commercial affairs at Setad Investment Foundation;

🟠 In 2010, the EU imposed sanctions on Mokhber and seven other Iranian nationals for ties to the country's ballistic missile program, but removed Mokhber from the sanctions list two years later. In 2021, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on him for his role in Iran's financial system;

🟠 In 2021, he became the first vice president of the country.


https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792547704813264952

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
"At present, we see that the strategy of domination has been defeated and that the US is at its weakest. Independent states are going through their historical period of development."

Late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi spoke out openly and sharply against current US and collective Western policies, criticizing their position on the conflict in Gaza. He also brought Iran into the SCO and BRICS, and called on the countries of both associations to abandon the dollar.

Sputnik has collected Raisi's most striking quotes in one video.


https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792575819568517596

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792479097118978060

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1792479330389418363

[Michel Leclerc]

Thank you Ravenlocke. Thank you all. Two points:

(1) the "flying into the mountain" aspect, with te concurrent radial (debris?) "ejections” and the fact that the bodies were burnt (and mangled? torn?) beyond recognition, make me think of an event beyond any control by the pilot

– which reminds me of the strange crash of a passenger aeroplane in the Alps, many years ago, that was attributed to a murder plus suicide by the German pilot “under influence of medication” – but which could be better understood as the result of a takeover of the controls by a external technology (as in 9-11) —

would/does such technology also exist for helicopters? would the strange choice of a small helicopter for such an important delegation not point to the (erroneous) belief that helicopters are “takeover safe”?

(2) Azerbaijan: it is important to make a clear distinction between the state Azerbaijan (capital: Baku) involved in an age-old conflict with Armenia, and the North Western Iranian province of Azerbaijan (capital: Tabriz).

[Michel Leclerc]

Addendum and correction.

Within Iran there are actually two provinces called Azerbaijan:
• East Azerbaijan the capital of which is Tabriz, bordering on the State Azerbaijan with capital Baku to the North and North-East, and Armenia with capital Yerevan to the North-West; and
• West Azerbaijan the capital of which is Orumiyeh, bordering on Armenia to the North and Turkey to the West.

[bojancan]

This image I got from EU, Germany...

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/runews/status/1792558430189736305

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
Major General Bagheri's order to investigate the cause of the crash of the president's helicopter

The Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces commissioned a high-ranking delegation of national and military experts to investigate the dimensions and causes of the president's helicopter crash.

This delegation has started the investigation of the accident by being present at the place of the accident in East Azerbaijan and the results of the investigation will be announced.

https://x.com/Sprinterfactory/status...98361998057858

https://x.com/AlArabiya_Eng/status/1792562705632481449

[Ravenlocke]

Posted by Michel Leclerc (here)
Addendum and correction.

Within Iran there are actually two provinces called Azerbaijan:
• East Azerbaijan the capital of which is Tabriz, bordering on the State Azerbaijan with capital Baku to the North and North-East, and Armenia with capital Yerevan to the North-West; and
• West Azerbaijan the capital of which is Orumiyeh, bordering on Armenia to the North and Turkey to the West.

Hi Michel
According to news reports,
President Raisi was returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on Iran’s border with the Azerbaijan Republic.

See here,

https://x.com/nayebsadegh/status/1792243733947203930