(20 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 20 May 2024
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1. SOUNDBITE (English) Jon Gambrell, Associated Press:
"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is dead. He was killed in a helicopter crash in the far northwest of the country along with Iran’s foreign minister and other officials that were flying through a really foggy area. Now, in the time since, we’ve heard from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He says that Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, will go ahead and be a caretaker president over the next 50 days. During that period, there should be an election held to replace Raisi. Raisi is the second president to die while in office. The first was killed in a bombing in 1981. All this comes as the wider Middle East is really on a knife’s edge right now, and Iran is part of that. We have seen Iran under Raisi and Khamenei launch an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel amid its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Iran is continuing to enrich uranium up to nearly weapons-grade levels while hampering international inspectors’ ability to view those sites. And in Iran itself, we have seen just massive protests over the last few years, both over Iran’s ailing economy as well as its treatment of women. Overall, Iranians say that they are shocked by Raisi’s death, that they’re waiting to see what will happen next. And for the rest of the Middle East, it’s holding its breath."
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STORYLINE:
The Associated Press News Director for the Gulf and Iran, Jon Gambrell, explains tensions facing Iran after a helicopter crash kills the president.
Iranian President Ebrahim 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.
The crash comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the Israel-Hamas war, during which Raisi, who was 63, under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel just last month.
"All this comes as the wider Middle East is really on a knife’s edge right now, and Iran is part of that," AP’s Gambrell said.
Khamenei announced Monday that Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, would serve as the country’s acting president until elections are held.
During Raisi’s term in office, Iran enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels, further escalating tensions with the West as Tehran also supplied bomb-carrying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine and armed militia groups across the region.
Meanwhile, Iran has faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over the ailing economy and women’s rights — making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country.
"Overall, Iranians say that they are shocked by Raisi’s death, that they’re waiting to see what will happen next. And for the rest of the Middle East, it’s holding its breath," Gambrell said.
AP video shot by Bassam Hatoum
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