Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, known for brutal crackdowns against political opposition, dies at 63

return2ozma@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 641 points –
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, known for brutal crackdowns against political opposition, dies at 63
nbcnews.com
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Today is a slightly better day for the people of Iran. Especially for the women of Iran.

I'm not well-versed in Iran's politics, but is there actually any hope that his replacement will be any better for the Iranian people? I'd have to imagine that whoever is next in line would already be very much aligned with his existing policies.

Iran is religious lead, so unlikely. The real leader is Ali Khamenei whos title is "Supreme Leader"

Also to add that Raisin was groomed to take his place, and apparently the guy Raisi was grooming to take his was also in the helicopter.

Khamenei is 85 years old.

That is actually pertinent information. If the supreme leader is seen as weak at 85, and the next two steps on the ladder are now vacant... Well let's just say that nature abhores a vacuum.

But it won't necessarily get better

Historically, things often have to get worse before they get better.

In the coming days we’ll see the course. Last year there were feminist revolts and protests, many women and girls were executed for them. It’s clear there’s still a divided political will, but the theocracy has maintained its monopoly on violence. If anything is going to change for the better it’s likely going to involve some assassinations

In the end, it won't matter much. I'm not going to go so far as to say the President is a figurehead, but the real power in Iran comes from Ali Khamenei.

The seat is going to another conservative politician, so probably not. One can always hope, though. Iranian civilians would really benefit from a more relaxed leader. Though the supreme leader is really the one running the show. Perhaps he will also get on a really old helicopter, flying in the extreme fog and rain, over a remote mountain range like this guy did.

No. It’s a theocracy and he doesn’t hold supreme power. Revolution in Iran will be a bloodbath. The best case scenario would’ve been something akin to the liberalization of Spain post Franco, but that’s highly unlikely.

Theocracies aren’t known for their long term stability, but Iran is known for its being absolute hell to invade. The regime is likely to starve itself of something, be it food, money, reproductive labor, or skilled labor. It will be slow, turbulent, and ugly

My assumption is economic in that they will continue to spend as oil and hydrocarbon fuels dependency drops worldwide as it's replaced with renewables. It seems dogmatic organizations like religions, theocracies, etc tend to do poorly with incremental change, but we'll see over the next couple decades. 30% of their trade is with China so it largely depends on Chinese markets and how/if they decide to change as the markets change.

But it’s important to remember economic collapse doesn’t end a totalitarian regime. It weakens it, but so long as they can feed enough of their people for revolution to not be a matter of survival and they have the arms to stop everyone else it becomes a matter of their will and their ability to maintain internal control.

Nope, he was worse than the previous guy. He'll be replaced by another approved prick.

The real blame here lies with the US, especially the Trump presidency. In Iran moderates were in power until Trump unilaterally ended the Iran nuclear deal. That was a clear signal to Iran, that moderation doesn’t bring them forward.

It is just a parade of dudes with a beard wearing a black dress screaming about who they want their skydaddy to kill.

i am sure america will murder anything that is better just like last time.

1959 CIA removed the democratic elected Mohammed Mossadegh

Fucktard Nixon called the slaughterer Reza Pahlavi he installed a friend.

so for me america is the only real problem here. AGAIN.

The helicopter was an old American Bell, stopped production decades ago and parts are hard enough to come by. Sanctions work, they just manifest in mysterious ways such as this and Iran's terrible aviation service record in general.

Instead of getting old fighter jets from Russia for those drones they sent, they'd probably have been better-off getting civilian helicopters.

Cue conspiracy on a CIA plan that took 50 years to yield results.

"So hear me out, we place a bomb in one of the Hueys and then stop supplying them with new ones, one day their leader will totally get on it and then we got em"

"Yo bill maybe slow down on the company acid please."

Too obvious. More like, "We're going to use slightly less lubricated ball bearings, position the aircraft on the market just where they will buy it, the maintenance specificity will not be documented, and it should kill a couple of important people in 50 years!". (Loosely inspired by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet)

I'm not sure the CIA was doing stuff as advanced as Stuxnet in its LSD days when it was supplying Iran.

Though now that you mention it, I'm surprised we've never heard of the CIA doing more things like obscure Stuxnet style sabotage on leaders' aircraft and the like.

He's easily replaceable. Plenty more mullah bootlickers where he came from.

that's not so certain. it also seems that he was supposed to be next supreme leader of iran, and crosssection of competent, fundamentalist enough to current big boss taste and having enough authority in irgc is almost empty now

and on top of that foreign minister that was also onboard was supposed to be next president. expect some power struggles

There are always power struggles. There will be a power struggle when Trump dies. That doesn't mean they couldn't easily replace him with some other useful idiot.

this is not a job for an useful idiot, this is job for next grand ayatollah and current one is 85 years old

Nonsense. Iran has had multiple presidents who never became Mullahs, let alone the Ayatollah. There have only been two Ayatollahs. The current one was president, but that was before Iran rewrote its constitution. Note that Ahmadinejad is not the Ayatollah today.

well Raisi specifically was a serious candidate. Ahmadinejad fell out of favours with Khamenei as he was deemed too nationalist, and Rouhani apparently was too weak on foreign policy

Even if that is the case, I doubt he was the only serious candidate. They wouldn't have been that short-sighted. This is not the end of the regime. This will barely make an impact in the lives of most Iranians.

well look it up for yourself, apparently Khamenei jr is most likely pick right now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Supreme_Leader_of_Iran_election

Hmmmm the guy everyone thought was gonna be leader next suddenly dies and the son of the current leader is now the heir presumptive... I know nowhere enough about Iranian politics and ik it was a heli crash but this sounds suspicious as hell.

If there is a hell may the demons tormenting him be women.

Is he in hell or the abyss? Devils in hell, demons in the abyss.

Please elaborate. I know nothing about the difference between devil and demon sorry.

I'm teasing about Dungeons and Dragons. In that system, Devils are Lawful Evil and guard the 9 planes of Hell. Demons are Chaotic Evil and guard the 666 planes of The Abyss. They are different afterlifes. The Abyss is much, much worse than Hell. Oh, also the Devils and Demons are constantly at war on the first plane of Hell. There's a portal there that leads to Heaven. The demons want to turn the rest of the planes of existence evil. The devils know that's a really bad idea since it would lead to the destruction of all the planes of existence, including the Prime Material Planes, which is where all the mortals, elves, humans, dwarves, dragons, orks, and goblins live.

Let's hope the same happens to all corrupted politicians around the world

We just need to have our representatives enact a law that all heads of state must use Boeing.

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Two helicopters traveling with Raisi made their destination unharmed.

It looks like there were 3 helicopters and only the one carrying Raisi crashed.

So far I have heard it was due to bad weather and that the helicopter was old. If the upcoming investigations shift the narrative to something different than an accident, it could be extremely alarming.

This is what we all hoped covid would have achieved with several more crappy world leaders lol.

Reminds me of Zia ul Haq dying in a C-130 plane crash, although that was purportedly an assassination via a crate of explosive mangos.

So far this just seems like an old heli in bad weather.

Let this be a lesson for putin..... everyone will be extremely happy when you are dead. Not just that, but just before they show you smeared on a cave's wall or a freeway or parking lot, everyone will probably hope really hard that you are gone. And when we finally get confirmation, that happiness will be extra gratifying. Imagine that!

More over let's count how many leaders of Iran are currently bathing in the sun at a private nude beach in Thailand drinking a margarita. Yup that number is exactly 0. That's because assholes don't survive their stupidity. So if you're thinking of trying to join the club, remember this day. This is how it will also end for you. Yeah it could have been entertaining to watch 10 men pull him out of a dirt hole like Hussain. But smeared on a big rock after ordering people to be stoned to death? I can see the irony.

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, known for enforcing brutal crackdowns on political opposition and seen as a potential successor to the supreme leader, has died in a helicopter crash landing in the country’s north, state media reported Monday.

Raisi was sometimes notably referred to as the “Butcher of Tehran,” as activists have accused him of being one of the four judges who oversaw the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 after the Iran-Iraq war.

“As deputy prosecutor general of Tehran,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in a 2019 sanctions announcement, “Raisi participated in a so-called ‘death commission’ that ordered the extrajudicial executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.”

“Ebrahim Raisi’s rise to the presidency follows an electoral process that was conducted in a highly repressive environment and barred women, members of religious minorities and candidates with opposing views from running for office,” Callamard said.

The Iranian regime is also accused of blocking social media apps, arresting journalists and punishing any public criticism of the government following Amini’s death.

Despite concerns over Iran’s attacks on human rights, Raisi was permitted to address the U.N. General Assembly last year, where he criticized Western states for meddling in Middle Eastern affairs.


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Should have bought American. Other than Boeing. Sucks to suck.

-----> /s <------ There you go. I was joking Lemmy. Learn how to read between the fucking lines, tankie neck beards.

This is what happens when you mess with gods chosen people glad to know i won't be leading him to the promised land after the rapture

Apparently what happens is you are rich, well-liked, respected, powerful, have a big family, and you live to a pretty old age.

Got to say your skydaddy is sending some mixed messages here.

Remind me again: doesn't the Book of Job make it clear that anyone who says "x happens because you were bad, y happens because you are good" (without direct prophecy) is worthy of death? Doesn't Leviticus make it pretty clear that you are not to interpret signs and omens? Doesn't Solomon teach that good and bad happen to people regardless of how they act? Isn't the actions of Jesus proof that success doesn't mean virtue and neither does misfortune?

Try being an atheist, it is a lot easier. You get to just accept that if there is any justice in this world, it is the justice us humans make.

Yeah but they don't believe in Jesus so that last example doesn't count.

As they shouldn't, since he is a myth made up by James and Paul without historical basis.

The Jew's are called gods chosen people not because not because we are favored its because we are chosen for a task some Jew's believe its to bring those left behind to the promised land aka heaven also Jesus isn't apart of Judaism

Probably not though. That's kind of a stretch don't you think? Probably each and everyone of us is just as special as the next guy, gal. Meaning, not special at all. We are just here. So to make the stay a little more bearable, our actions should try to make it easier for everyone to live happily ever after.

Lmao, they've got an excuse prepped for when none of them are called during rapture.

Amazing how every religion believes they are the chosen ones, eh?

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