Dragana Trifkovic, Director General of the Center for geostrategic studies
Note: the text was published in a book dedicated to the memory of Ezrahim Raisi in Iran
The bad news is 19. Maya went all over the world. Near the village of Uzi in Iran's eastern Azerbaijan province, one of three helicopters of the Iranian state delegation returning from talks held in the border area of Azerbaijan crashed. Search and Rescue Teams were unable to reach the scene immediately due to poor weather conditions and inaccessible terrain. Sadly, the 20th. in May, Iranian authorities officially confirmed that the president of Iran, members of the delegation accompanying him and all members of the crew had died. The tragic death of Iran's president was highly regarded in Iran and the news of his death shook the entire country. He won the presidency in 2021. years of taking on great responsibility in the very complex and critical circumstances for a country faced with a faltering economy exacerbated by sanctions and the collapse of the nuclear deal, which promised economic relief. In addition, in 2022-2023, Iran was rocked by numerous protests following the death of Mahsa Amini accused of violating religious and moral standards, which served to further intensify the aggressive campaign aimed at destabilizing the state for its political opponents. Iran's enemies hoped the demonstrations could lead to civil war, but the opposite happened. The protests reached their peak, but the active youth did not receive widespread support from the population and political elites, so they ended in failure.
With a solid internal and foreign policy, the Iranian president has managed to overcome these and many other problems by establishing good relations with all branches of government – legislative, military and theocratic. Despite unfavorable economic forecasts and inflation ranging between 40-50%, the president of Iran stabilized the financial system, bringing some stability to the Iranian rial against the dollar and other currencies. From the beginning of his term, he gave priority to solving the problems of ordinary citizens and with a team of ministers he tirelessly visited Iranian provinces trying to solve neglected problems. He also made an effort to overcome long-standing industrial disputes between major Iranian corporations and complaints from their workers by ensuring payment of all back wages for workers.
The late President cooperated very well with the military structures and considered security issues as a priority. He was focused on increasing Iran's nuclear technological potential and turning Iran into a "nuclear threshold"state. He highly appreciated Iran's military successes in the region and cooperation with Lebanese Hezbollah, Yemeni Ansar Allah, Iraqi Katayb Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas. He advocated continued military support and transfer of technology to Iranian allies in the region, such as unmanned and missile technologies. Iran's support for the Palestinian resistance played a key role in the way events in the 7th-century region unfolded. October 2023. years and contributed to the humiliation of Israel and its considerable weakening. Unlike some Muslim countries whose support for the Palestinian people boils down to rhetoric, Iran has always played a proactive role. Finally, although Iran was restrained on the issue of a direct military response despite numerous provocations, subversions and terrorist attacks primarily by Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States, during President Raisi's tenure, strikes against Israel were authorized, which changed Iran's policy of "strategic patience" into a policy of "active deterrence".
Errahim Raisi was highly respected in the religious establishment, as a man who was close to the late leader of the Iranian Revolution Hoemini, and the current leader Khamenei. There was a great deal of trust between Iran's supreme religious leader and President Raisi based on mutual understanding and similar views, especially with regard to suspicion towards the West. Khamenei appointed Raisi to several leadership positions, and the president of Iran integrated the executive branch of the Iranian government with a branch of the Supreme Leader's office, which led to the homogenization of the state administration. Ezrahim Raisi was so loyal to Khamenei that he was seen as the successor of Khamenei.
On foreign policy, one of Raisi's most important achievements as president was restoring ties with a long-standing regional adversary, Saudi Arabia as well as the United Arab Emirates. Iran and Saudi Arabia are in 2023. years in Beijing signed a historic agreement on the restoration of diplomatic relations. It is also necessary to mention the deepening of Iran's cooperation with Russia and China both at the bilateral level and through geopolitical projects. As of 2021. in 2023, Iran's trade with Russia increased sharply. Russia became the largest investor in the Iranian market. Of the more than 4 billion foreign investments in 2022-2023, Russian investments accounted for 66%. Iran and Russia have developed close military-technical cooperation, and in 2023. years of joint production of unmanned aircraft.
Along with Russia, China has become one of Iran's strategic allies. These two countries are 2021. Iran signed a 25-year Cooperation Agreement and is also included in China's "One Belt, One Road"initiative. In March 2021. it became known that China agreed to invest долара 400 billion in Iran (banking, telecommunications, ports, railways, healthcare, information technology, military cooperation, etc.) over 25 years in exchange for stable oil deliveries.
On the geopolitical plane, it is important to note that Iran is in September 2022. at the SCO Summit in Samarkand, he signed a memorandum of association with the organization. 15 was founded. June 2001. years in Shanghai. At first, six countries – Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan-joined the organization in 2017. India and Pakistan joined. Iran's entry into the SCO is a major step in further strategic stabilization of the Eurasian continent, creating conditions for the implementation of new geopolitical projects. After signing the agreement with SCOs, 2023. an agreement was signed with the Eurasian Economic Union on free trade. During Raisi's term, more precisely from January 1 of the current year, Iran became a member of the BRICS, which further conditions the new geopolitical reality of multipolarization that irrevocably changes the old world order.
Raisi's legacy is great and he will go down in history as one of Iran's great leaders. The Iranian people will continue to follow the same path that the late president built with the supreme leader and Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, for which they must be recognized as a people who showed great strength, courage, endurance and sacrifice in order to achieve their own goals and values.
- July 2024.
