New Iranian foreign minister a familiar face for US officials
CNN
Within days of the helicopter crash that killed its president and other top officials, Iran detailed a succession plan and named replacements in a clear effort to project stability at a moment of profound and sudden uncertainty within the regime.
Within days of the helicopter crash that killed its president and other top officials, Iran detailed a succession plan and named replacements in a clear effort to project stability at a moment of profound and sudden uncertainty within the regime. One familiar name stood out to US officials: the new acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani. Seen by US officials as a hardline establishment figure, Kani has been a top negotiator for Iran on sensitive talks with the United States on everything from nuclear issues to its use of proxy forces to attack US and allied interests across the region. Just last week in Oman, Kani was part of a delegation of senior Iranian officials that met indirectly with US officials, current and former officials said. Because the US and Iran do not have formal diplomatic relations, the two delegations sat in separate rooms while Omani officials passed back and forth messages. Kani, US officials said, is a known quantity and one example of why the Biden administration largely expects little to change in Iran following the sudden deaths of its president and top officials. For hours on Sunday after the US received the first reports that a helicopter had crashed while carrying some of Iran’s most senior leaders, including President Ebrahim Raisi, US officials weren’t sure how bad the accident was.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.










