(ProsperNews.net) -Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash. Mr. Raisi, known as the Butcher of Tehran, died along with his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other government officials when the aircraft crashed into a mountainside in harsh weather conditions near the Azerbaijan border. Many considered the 63-year-old a firm believer in the Islamic regime and a potential successor to the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Israeli government immediately announced that it had no involvement in Raisi’s death. “It wasn’t us,” a brief statement read.
The hardline leader was the first Iranian President ever to launch a direct attack on the Jewish state. Raisi’s forces fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in April, most of which were intercepted by its Iron Dome defense system. Israel responded with a targeted bomb days later.
He was also responsible for the brutal crackdown on women’s rights campaigners who demonstrated following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody following her arrest for incorrectly wearing the Islamic head-covering.
Hadi Ghaemi of the Center for Human Rights in Iran described Raisi as a “pillar of a system that jails, tortures, and kills people.” The leader of the New York campaign group added that the President’s death permitted him to avoid accountability for his crimes.
In 1988, Mr. Raisi was one of four Islamic judges to send thousands of political prisoners to their execution after finding them guilty of plotting to overthrow the regime two years earlier. The exact number executed is unknown, but experts suggest it is between 2,000 and 30,000.
Iran’s Constitution requires Vice President Mohammad Mokhber to become interim President, and elections for Raisi’s successor must take place within 50 days. Experts say the elections will be tightly controlled.
President Biden faced criticism for expressing condolences for Raisi’s death. Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US regrets any loss of life, adding that the condolence message was not intended to improve political relations.
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