Iran’s supreme leader sets its hardline foreign policies: expect more of the same

Any question of a new direction in Tehran’s foreign policy is ultimately tied to who succeeds Khamenei as supreme leader. Photograph: Khamenei.IR/AFP/Getty Images

In the immediate aftermath of the death of the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, and foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in a helicopter crash on Sunday, Iran’s regional proxies lined up to offer their condolences.

Hamas mourned Raisi as an “honourable supporter” of the Gaza-based group. Hezbollah praised him as “a strong supporter, and a staunch defender of our causes … and a protector of the resistance movements”. Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, said on X that Raisi’s death was a loss “for the entire Islamic world and Palestine and Gaza”.