New Iranian foreign minister a familiar face for US officials

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.