Next Month's Presidential By-election
"Low Possibility of Reformist Victory"
Professor Park Hyun-do of Sogang University's Euromena Research Institute commented on the helicopter crash death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, saying, "Everything about the cause of the crash is uncertain," but also questioned, "Why did he ride a 1968-model helicopter in bad weather?"
On the 21st, on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' Professor Park said, "The helicopter President Raisi was on was a Bell 212 model used before the revolution," adding, "Since Iran has been under sanctions after the revolution, it cannot receive aviation parts. They perform makeshift maintenance by taking parts from existing helicopters, so it is questionable why he boarded that helicopter." He added, "Even I try not to fly when I go to Iran unless absolutely necessary."
He continued, "There is much debate over whether the cause of the crash was an accident or an incident," explaining, "Considering the bad weather and the aged model, many say it was a simple accident, but there are also talks that it might be related to recent terrorist or assassination attempts targeting pro-Russian leaders."
Regarding the possibility of terrorism, he said, "Since eyewitnesses said 'the propeller was still spinning,' it seems to be an accident rather than an assassination attempt," adding, "The helicopter lacks electronic navigation equipment, so the pilot must visually confirm everything, which would have made landing difficult."
Professor Park pointed out, "Among the conspiracy theories currently circulating, I am interested in East Azerbaijan." He explained, "After meeting the President of Azerbaijan, the Slovakian president received assassination threats, and within a few days, this incident occurred. Iran and Azerbaijan share a border, and since there is an independence movement in East Azerbaijan, foreign involvement is highly possible, but this is not based on concrete evidence."
Regarding future relations between South Korea and Iran, he expressed concern, saying, "They are not good." Professor Park said, "We feel relieved because we have paid the money owed to Iran, and both sides have the will not to worsen the situation," but added, "Iran thinks South Korea follows the United States in everything and cannot raise its own voice." In September last year, the South Korean government transferred $6 billion (about 8 trillion won) of Iran's oil payment funds frozen domestically due to U.S. sanctions to a third country.
Iran has decided to hold a presidential by-election on the 28th of next month. Professor Park judged that the possibility of a reformist winning this election is low. He said, "In Iran, candidates for the presidential election undergo screening, so people dissatisfied with the government or reformists are disqualified," adding, "Moreover, reformists are unprepared for such a sudden election, so naturally, the successor will be someone politically aligned with President Raisi."
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