(20 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY: PART NO ACCESS IRAN, NO USE BY BBC PERSIAN, VOA PERSIAN, MANOTO TV, IRAN INTERNATIONAL
++The Associated Press is adhering to Iranian law that stipulates all media are banned from providing BBC Persian, VOA Persian, Manoto TV and Iran International any coverage from Iran, and under this law if any media violate this ban the Iranian authorities can immediately shut down that organisation in Tehran.++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London – 20 May 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Sanam Vakil, Director, North Africa and Middle East Programme, Chatham House:
"Well for the Islamic Republic, this is seen as a loss, a big loss, a number of key figures with poor planning have all died at the same time. This comes actually also at a time where the the system has also taken many hits across the region and in their campaign and contested relationship with Israel. The system is also suffering from domestic legitimacy crisis. They have just wrapped up their parliamentary elections, and there was record-low public turnout in the second round of voting in Tehran, only 8% of the population voted. People are going to see this as potentially an opportunity for protests or instability in Iran. Obviously, the loss of the head of state, and the foreign minister is a very big deal. What the Islamic Republic is going to do instead is to show that its processes and its institutions will continue to function. And it’s going to try to show a commitment to those processes, take forward the elections that are meant to be held within a two-month period. That will all be certainly hard to deliver while also generating public support."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
IRNA – NO ACCESS IRAN, NO USE BY BBC PERSIAN, VOA PERSIAN, MANOTO TV, IRAN INTERNATIONAL
Tehran, Iran – 19 May 2024
2. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking to crowds
ASSOCIATED PRESS – NO USE BY BBC PERSIAN, VOA PERSIAN, MANOTO TV, IRAN INTERNATIONAL
ARCHIVE: Tehran, Iran – 10 May 2024
3. Various of people at polling station during parliamentary elections
ASSOCIATED PRESS – NO USE BY BBC PERSIAN, VOA PERSIAN, MANOTO TV, IRAN INTERNATIONAL
Tehran, Iran – 20 May 2024
4. Various of traffic and people in Tehran
5. Close of newspaper showing picture of Raisi and headline reading (Farsi): "The nation’s tough night"
STORYLINE:
The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash will be a “big loss” to the country, especially as it comes amid a “domestic legitimacy crisis” and Tehran’s "contested relationship" with Israel, an analyst said Monday.
Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and several other officials were found dead on Monday, hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported.
Sanam Vakil, the director of the North Africa and Middle East Programme at the London-based think-tank Director, Chatham House said the country’s political establishment will now "put on a brave face, show functionality as usual, present this as business as normal of a system and life will go on".
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced Monday that Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, would serve as the country’s acting president until elections are held.
Under the Iranian constitution, Iran’s vice first president takes over if the president dies, with Khamenei’s assent, and a new presidential election would be called within 50 days.
Vakil said there was a possibility of "protests or instability in Iran."
Mass protests in the country have raged for years.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/f0222f84d67f4cbd916082d5d208d3d6
