What Israeli Media Wrote About the Death of Hossein Amirabdollahian?

The 'important' role of Hossein Amirabdollahian, the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic who was killed in the helicopter crash with Ibrahim Raisi, in strengthening the cooperation and coordination of the Iranian government with its proxy groups in the Middle East has been a topic of interest in Israeli media in recent days. These media outlets assessed Amirabdollahian's death, who had decades of close relations with the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, leaders of the Houthis, Iraqi and Bahraini Shiites, and leaders of Palestinian armed organizations, especially the Palestinian Islamic Jihad such as Ramadan Abdullah Shalah and Ziad Nakhalah, as a blow to these types of collaborations - at least in the short term. The Wallanews website wrote on June 1 that this 60-year-old diplomat, who held radical views close to the Revolutionary Guards and represented the hardline approach of Ali Khamenei in foreign policy, maintained a confrontational stance towards the West while overseeing indirect negotiations between Tehran and the U.S. for reviving the JCPOA. The site recalled Amirabdollahian's statements last month during his trip to New York in an interview with NBC News, where he warned Israel that if it continued its adventures in the region, Iran's response would be 'immediate and maximum.' According to Wallanews, Qassem Soleimani, the slain commander of the Quds Force, was a role model for Hossein Amirabdollahian, who had often stated that the Western world should be grateful to Qassem Soleimani because if the Islamic Republic had not been there (to overcome ISIS), metro stations in Brussels, London, and Paris would not have the security they enjoy today. The article added that Amirabdollahian's role became prominent since the tenure of Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister during Hassan Rouhani's government, had retained him in the position of Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab Affairs despite all the disagreements he had with Amirabdollahian. Yedioth Ahronoth also reported that Iranian proxy groups would feel the absence of Amirabdollahian considering his role in strengthening Tehran's cooperation with these organizations in the near term. Additionally, the Israeli economic website Kalkalist, in an article titled 'Not with Raisi, but the communication channel (with Hassan) Nasrallah was cut off with the death of the foreign minister,' wrote that the death of Ibrahim Raisi and the Iranian foreign minister would not disrupt Iran's nuclear policy but could cause delays in some processes and disrupt Tehran's coordination with regional officials and groups. This website noted Amirabdollahian's repeated meetings with Hassan Nasrallah, stating he was a channel for transmitting direct messages from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Hezbollah, having visited Nasrallah's hideout in Lebanon at least three times since the start of the Gaza war, and held similar roles in relations with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations. According to Kalkalist, the absence of Amirabdollahian has created a vacuum that may not be easy for Tehran to fill. Mako, the news website of Channel 12 of Israeli television, also reported that Hossein Amirabdollahian was one of the 'most pivotal factors in Iran's organization in the region in recent years' and 'one of the most important assets of the Islamic Republic in regional struggles and strengthening the terrorist front,' being closer to 'terrorist organizations in confrontation with Israel' than previous foreign ministers of Iran. The Mako website also recalled that since the beginning of the Gaza war, alongside Amirabdollahian's meetings with Hassan Nasrallah, he had met several times with senior officials of Hamas's political office abroad, as well as with Ziad Nakhalah, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Mohammed Abdul Salam, the leader of the Houthis. The extremist group Hamas is also considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, in addition to Israel. Channel 12 of Israeli television wrote that from the first day of Ibrahim Raisi's government three years ago, it was clear that Hossein Amirabdollahian would prioritize advancing the goals of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region, utilizing his close relations with Qatar and Oman, two countries that are considered Iran's political window to the West. The article added that Tehran's overall line has radicalized in recent years, and Amirabdollahian, with his 'combative and decisive' personality, particularly after the withdrawal of then-President Donald Trump from the JCPOA, followed this line. This network assessed that even if the deaths of senior Tehran officials in the helicopter crash do not have a real impact on Iran's domestic and foreign policy, the death of Amirabdollahian poses a challenge for the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Tehran's activities in 'supporting terrorism in the Middle East,' and his absence will be 'definitely' felt at least in the short term. The Israel Hayom newspaper, a supporter of Benjamin Netanyahu, also described Hossein Amirabdollahian as the 'second Qassem Soleimani,' who has long been the 'Trojan horse of the Revolutionary Guards' in the diplomatic corps of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The article added that like Qassem Soleimani, he believed that supporting militias throughout the Middle East has direct impacts on Iran's diplomatic efforts towards the U.S. and Arab countries, and as this 'mysterious man' stated, 'the language of power' must be employed.