Ali Bagheri Kani, a 57-year-old political insider with a history of serving in Iran’s diplomatic and security apparatuses, has been appointed interim foreign minister following the death of the man he is replacing, Hossein Amirabdollahian.

Amirabdollahian died on Sunday in a helicopter crash in Iran’s mountainous East Azerbaijan province, alongside President Ebrahim Raisi and several other officials and staff.

Bagheri Kani is the logical choice to come in as acting foreign minister – he had been Amirabdollahian’s deputy for political affairs.

The new foreign minister was born in a village just north of the capital Tehran to a conservative family that helped establish and strengthen Iran.

Family members have had prominent roles in the country. His father, the now 98-year-old prominent cleric Mohammad-Bagher Bagheri Kani, is a former member of parliament and the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body tasked with appointing a successor to the 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

And his uncle, Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, was a former acting prime minister and interior minister, who led the Assembly of Experts from 2010 until his death in 2014. The new acting foreign minister’s brother, Mesbah al-Hoda Bagheri Kani, is a son-in-law of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Bagheri Kani studied economics at Tehran’s Imam Sadiq University, a school that has produced many members of Iran’s government, and which used to be run by his father.

Close ally of Jalili

He started his diplomatic career at a regional desk of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also did a brief stint as political analyst at state television.

He has been a longtime close associate of Saeed Jalili, a key ultraconservative figure within the establishment who now holds a senior position on Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).

Like Jalili, Bagheri Kani’s name is mostly associated with the years-long talks surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme, and he served as Jalili’s deputy on the SNSC shortly after the latter was appointed secretary of the body in 2007, at a time of heightened tensions over the nuclear issue.

As the SNSC was at the time in charge of handling the nuclear file, Bagheri Kani also became a senior figure in the country’s negotiating team and held meetings with US and European officials.

Those negotiations ultimately fell through, and Iran was slapped with a series of harsh international sanctions.

Jalili eventually went on to run for president in 2013, wishing to put forward his pessimistic view towards any nuclear deal with the West. Bagheri Kani managed his election campaign, which failed.

The victory that year of the centrist Hassan Rouhani, who promised the lifting of sanctions and an end to Iran’s isolation, led Jalili and Bagheri Kani to become relatively sidelined.

Rouhani’s administration was able to agree on a nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Western countries in 2015, but it did not last long, as US President Donald Trump withdrew from it unilaterally in 2018, and imposed even harder sanctions on Iran.

Aligned with Raisi

In 2019, Raisi, who ran for president in 2017 in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Rouhani’s re-election, was appointed as the judiciary chief by Khamenei. It came as sanctions were taking their toll on the economy, and weakening the power of reformists and centrists.

Raisi brought Bagheri Kani into his team, appointing him as the head of international affairs of the judiciary. Bagheri Kani was also made the head of the human rights council of the judiciary, replacing Mohammad Javad Larijani, who had held the position for 14 years.

By the time President Joe Biden’s administration was in power in the US and Raisi had eventually won the Iranian presidency at the second attempt in 2021, efforts were under way to restore the JCPOA to reduce tensions.

Just before European-mediated talks with the US were slated to begin in late 2021, Bagheri Kani was appointed as chief negotiator, replacing veteran diplomat Abbas Araghchi, who had been instrumental in negotiating the nuclear deal.

The JCPOA continues to be in limbo, and Iran has now achieved the status of a threshold nuclear state, but talks are continuing with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which Bagheri Kani will have to handle in cooperation with Iran’s nuclear agency.

Tehran has also kept lines of communication open with Europe, along with Washington, with mediated talks taking place in Oman this month. More negotiations aimed at reducing tensions amid Israel’s war on Gaza are expected soon, which would be overseen by the caretaker foreign minister.

Amirabdollahian, the late foreign minister, was active in representing Iran’s interests and alliances across the region during the war, taking tours to meet with top officials in Syria, Lebanon, Qatar and elsewhere.

Bagheri Kani is expected to carry on the torch, emphasising Tehran’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza and opposing Western presence and influence in the region, while backing its own allies.

BANGKOK (AP) — One person has died aboard a London-Singapore flight that encountered severe turbulence, Singapore Airlines said Tuesday, in which the plane apparently plummeted for a number of minutes before it was diverted to Bangkok, where emergency crews rushed to help injured passengers amid stormy weather.

The Boeing 777-300ER, with a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board, landed in Bangkok at 3:45 p.m. (0845 GMT), the airline said in a Facebook post.

Tracking data captured by FlightRadar24 and analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Singapore Airlines flight cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,300 meters). Just after 0800 GMT, the Boeing 777 suddenly and sharply pitched down to 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) over the span of some three minutes, the data shows.

The aircraft stayed at 31,000 feet (9,400 meters) for just under 10 minutes before rapidly descending and landing in Bangkok in just under half an hour. The descent happened as the flight was over the Andaman Sea approaching Myanmar.

Emergency crews from Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from Suvarnabhumi Airport, were on site to transfer injured passengers from Flight SQ321 from Heathrow off the runway for treatment. Videos posted on the LINE messaging platform by Suvarnabhumi Airport showed a line of ambulances streaming to the scene.

“Singapore Airlines offers its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased,” the airline said. “We are working with the local authorities in Thailand to provide the necessary medical assistance, and sending a team to Bangkok to provide any additional assistance needed.”

• Australia and New Zealand have sent planes to evacuate citizens stranded in violence-hit New Caledonia.
• Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed clearance from French authorities for two evacuation flights from the archipelago.
• A Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules landed in Noumea, the capital, with a capacity to carry 124 passengers.

Australia and New Zealand sent airplanes to New Caledonia on Tuesday to begin bringing home stranded citizens from the violence-wracked French South Pacific territory.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia had received clearance from French authorities for two flights to evacuate citizens from the archipelago, where indigenous people have long sought independence from France.

Hours later, a Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules touched down in Noumea, the capital. The plane can carry 124 passengers, according to the Defense Department.

FRENCH SECURITY REINFORCEMENTS EASE VIOLENT UNREST IN NEW CALEDONIA

“We continue to work on further flights,” Wong wrote on the social media platform X on Tuesday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said 300 Australians were in New Caledonia. It did not immediately confirm whether the Australian-organized flights would also evacuate other stranded foreign nationals, believed to number in the thousands.

New Zealand’s government also announced that it had sent a plane to New Caledonia to begin evacuating about 50 of its citizens.

“New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days — and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the government,” Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said. “In cooperation with France and Australia, we are working on subsequent flights in coming days.”

FRANCE GRAPPLES TO REGAIN CONTROL OF VIOLENT UNREST IN NEW CALEDONIA AS DEATH TOLL RISES TO 4

Noumea’s international airport remains closed to commercial flights. Its reopening will be reassessed on Thursday.

At least six people have died and hundreds more have been injured since violence erupted last week in New Caledonia following controversial electoral reforms passed in Paris.

About 270 suspected rioters have been arrested as of Tuesday, and a 6 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew is in effect for the archipelago of about 270,000 people, which is a popular tourist destination with its idyllic beaches and climate.

France has sent in over a thousand security personnel, with hundreds more due to arrive Tuesday, to try to quell the unrest and restore control.

Armed clashes, looting, arson and other violence turned parts of Noumea into no-go zones. Columns of smoke billowed into the sky, hulks of burned cars littered roads, businesses and shops were ransacked and buildings became smoking ruins.

There have been decades of tensions between indigenous Kanaks who are seeking independence and descendants of colonizers who want to remain part of France.

The unrest erupted May 13 as the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French Constitution to make changes to New Caledonia voter lists. The National Assembly in Paris approved a bill that would, among other changes, allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections.

Opponents fear the measure will benefit pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize Kanaks who once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.