*DR MEIR JAVEDANFAR IRANIAN-ISRAELI AUTHOR, LECTURER AND COMMENTATOR
Speaking to I24NEWS, Dr Meir Javedanfar said that Ebrahim Raisi was an unpopular figure – a “one man” president. “Participation in the elections in which he was elected was low, and in future elections for president, voter turnout will be even lower… News of his death is like an Iranian version of the Brazil carnival. There are lots of Iranians celebrating on social media. There were fireworks and car horns honking last night in Iran.”
*BIANCA ZANINI, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT I24NEWS
A major hole has been left from the death of Raisi. He was the man set to replace the Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. An election must take place for his replacement within 50 days. Policies won’t change because Raisi was not the main decision maker. He was a hardliner who the government is calling a martyr
*DR THAMAR EILAM GINDIN, IRAN SPECIALIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA’S EZRI CENTRE FOR IRAN AND PERSIAN GULF STUDIES
“He was not a head of state like the US president and so his death won’t halt things. He wasn’t high in decision making. He wasn’t a very good president and so there are not big shoes to fill”
MIRI EISIN, DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR COUNTER-TERRORISM AT REICHMAN UNIVERSITY
“The bigger impact is the fact that the Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-abdollahian, has died. He had a voice and would make domestic foreign relations. Someone else will have to step in. Presidents and prime ministers get killed – people shouldn’t jump to conspiracy theories. I will not miss them at all. Iran will continue to view Israel as the ‘cancer of the world’.
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