President Raisi and Foreign Minister die in helicopter crash

Today’s news: The UN “deeply alarmed” by the resumption of violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Officials from Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan meet after collective violence in Bishkek. Two Chinese warships dock in Cambodia to carry out joint military maneuvers. More than 130 people died over the weekend in Afghanistan due to flooding in the north and center of the country.

IRAN

President Ebrahim Raisi -from the ultra-conservative wing and long considered a possible successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei- died yesterday in a helicopter accident. The aircraft, which was carrying other people, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who also died, crashed in mountainous terrain near the border with Azerbaijan. Rescue teams found charred parts of the vehicle. Among the causes are bad weather and a lack of replacement vehicles due to Western sanctions. Expressions of condolence and offers of help have been received from several countries, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey, as well as from the European Union, which has activated its rapid response mapping service to assist in the search operations.

MYANMAR

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights declares “deeply alarmed” by the resumption of violence in the western state of Rakhine, in Myanmar, and warns of the risk of new “atrocities” being committed in clashes between the Arakan Army and the military. Experts are trying to “prove information indicating serious violations.” Hundreds of people dead or injured, more than 300,000 displaced.

KYRGYZSTAN – PAKISTAN

Officials from Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan met after the violence collective attack in Bishkek against foreign students injured at least 29 people, including several foreigners, triggering diplomatic tensions between Islamabad and Delhi. Among the triggers was a previous dispute of uncertain contours between emigrants. The visit of the Pakistani delegation was cancelled.

CAMBODIA – CHINA

Two Chinese warships docked yesterday in Cambodia – an old ally of Beijing from which it has received multimillion-dollar investments – as part of the largest military maneuvers joint ventures with the Southeast Asian country. The land and sea operations will last at least 15 days and will involve 760 Chinese soldiers, some 1,300 Cambodians and 11 Cambodian ships.

AFGHANISTAN

The Afghan authorities announced yesterday the death of at least 84 people due to the heavy rain and flooding in the northern province of Faryab. The day before, another 50 had died in the central province of Ghor. According to the UN, the country is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Last week, flash floods caused 315 deaths and more than 1,600 injuries.

A. SAUDI – JAPAN

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman postponed a four-day trip to Japan that he had planned for a long time due to King Salman’s health. The visit was due to begin today and was the strongman’s first in Riyadh since 2019. Official Saudi media are currently reporting that the monarch is suffering from lung inflammation and is undergoing medical treatment.

RUSSIA

As many observers have noted, the main objective of Vladimir Putin’s visit to China has not been fulfilled, namely Xi Jinping’s consent to the rapid construction of the new gas pipeline “Siberian Force-2”. This would allow the Russians to send sufficient quantities of fuel to China to compensate for the loss of the European market, while the Chinese “are in no hurry.”

ARMENIA – AZERBAIJAN

Armenian Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, leader of the “Tavowš in the name of the Fatherland” movement, met with the leaders of the opposition party “Armenian National Congress”, Levon Zurabyan and Aram Manukyan. The objective was to agree to protest actions against the government of Nikol Pašinyan and obtain his resignation to start border negotiations with Azerbaijan.