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International

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, who oversaw mass executions, dies in helicopter crash

Published

11 months ago

3 minute read

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi

From LifeSiteNews

By Matt Lamb

Ebrahim Raisi, a Muslim cleric expected to eventually replace Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, oversaw the execution of thousands of dissidents and supported Hamas in its terrorist attacks.

The president of Iran died in a helicopter crash Sunday evening.

Ebrahim Raisi was a Muslim cleric who claimed his family descended from Muhammed, the founder of Islam. He died near Azerbaijan along with other officials who were visiting the country for an event celebrating a new dam, according to Reuters.

Raisi was a Shiite leader who served on the 1988 commission that sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death. He was expected to eventually replace the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Human rights organizations estimate that between 4,500 and 5,000 men, women and children were killed in the summer of 1988 in prisons across Iran,” according to Amnesty International’s summary. “The pattern of political executions changed dramatically from piecemeal reports of executions to a massive wave of killings that took place over several months.”

“The true number of dead, however, is still unknown as the executions were carried out in secret. In fact, many relatives were never told about the killings or where their loved ones had been buried,” Amnesty International reported.

In September 2022, his government killed hundreds of protesters against clerical rule, according to the BBC.

“The ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement was sparked the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who had been detained by morality police in Tehran for allegedly wearing her hijab ‘improperly,” the BBC reported. “Authorities denied she was mistreated, but a UN fact-finding mission found she was ‘subjected to physical violence that led to her death.’”

Raisi oversaw Iran’s further enrichment of uranium and attacks on Israel, according to the Associated Press. He was “a hard-line protégé of the country’s supreme leader who helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in 1988 and later led the country as it enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels and launched a major drone-and-missile attack on Israel,” according to the AP’s article on his death.

“An Israeli official told Reuters it was not involved in the crash,” the news outlet reported. “It wasn’t us.”

The terrorist group Hamas also mourned Raisi’s death and that of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who also died in the plane crash. Hamas thanked them for supporting them in the terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war.

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Trump demands free passage for American ships through Panama, Suez

Published on April 28, 2025

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MXM logo MxM News

Quick Hit:

President Donald Trump is pushing for U.S. ships to transit the Panama and Suez canals without paying tolls, arguing the waterways would not exist without America.

Key Details:

  • In a Saturday Truth Social post, Trump said, “American Ships, both Military and Commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez Canals! Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America.”

  • Trump directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “immediately take care of, and memorialize” the issue, signaling a potential new diplomatic initiative with Panama and Egypt.

  • The Panama Canal generated about $3.3 billion in toll revenue in fiscal 2023, while the Suez Canal posted a record $9.4 billion. U.S. vessels account for roughly 70% of Panama Canal traffic, according to government figures.

Diving Deeper:

President Donald Trump is pressing for American ships to receive free passage through two of the world’s most critical shipping lanes—the Panama and Suez canals—a move he argues would recognize the United States’ historic role in making both waterways possible. In a post shared Saturday on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “American Ships, both Military and Commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez Canals! Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America.”

Trump added that he has instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “immediately take care of, and memorialize” the situation. His comments, first reported by FactSet, come as U.S. companies face rising shipping costs, with tolls for major vessels ranging from $200,000 to over $500,000 per Panama Canal crossing, based on canal authority schedules.

The Suez Canal, operated by Egypt, reportedly saw record revenues of $9.4 billion in 2023, largely driven by American and European shipping amid ongoing Red Sea instability. After a surge in attacks by Houthi militants on commercial ships earlier this year, Trump authorized a sustained military campaign targeting missile and drone sites in northern Yemen. The Pentagon said the strikes were part of an effort to “permanently restore freedom of navigation” for global shipping near the Suez Canal.

Trump has framed the military operations as part of a broader strategy to counter Iranian-backed destabilization efforts across the Middle East.

Meanwhile, in Central America, Trump’s administration is working to counter Chinese influence near the Panama Canal. On April 9th, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced an expanded partnership with Panama to bolster canal security, including a memorandum of understanding allowing U.S. warships and support vessels to move “first and free” through the canal. “The Panama Canal is key terrain that must be secured by Panama, with America, and not China,” Hegseth emphasized during a press conference in Panama City.

American commercial shipping has long depended on the canal, which reduces the shipping route between the U.S. East Coast and Asia by nearly 8,000 miles. About 40% of all U.S. container traffic uses the Panama Canal annually, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

The United States originally constructed and controlled the Panama Canal following a monumental effort championed by President Theodore Roosevelt in the early 20th century. After backing Panama’s independence from Colombia in 1903, the U.S. secured the rights to build and operate the canal, which opened in 1914. Although U.S. control ended in 1999 under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, the canal remains vital to U.S. trade.

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International

U.S. Army names new long-range hypersonic weapon ‘Dark Eagle’

Published on April 28, 2025

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One of the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon Transporter Erector Launchers assigned to Bravo Battery, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery, Long Range Fires Battalion, 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, participates in exercise Bamboo Eagle 24-3 on Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Aug. 5, 2024.
1st Multi-Domain Task Force, U.S. Army photo | DVIDS

From The Center Square

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The U.S. Army’s newest long-range hypersonic weapon will be called “Dark Eagle” the Pentagon announced Thursday after a successful test flight.

The land-based, truck-launched system is armed with hypersonic missiles that travel 3,800 miles per hour with a range of 1,725 miles. They can reach the top of the Earth’s atmosphere and “remain just beyond the range of air and missile defense systems until they are ready to strike, and by then it’s too late to react,” according to Army statements in a March 2023 Congressional Research Service report.

In December, the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs, completed a successful end-to-end flight test of a conventional hypersonic missile from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.

“Hypersonic weapons will complicate adversaries’ decision calculus, strengthening deterrence,” said Patrick Mason, senior official performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. “Their speed, accuracy and versatility are befitting its new popular name, Dark Eagle.”

Army officials repeatedly delayed tests of the Dark Eagle system after failures in 2021 and 2022, according to the CRS report.

The U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office and the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs partnered to get land and sea variants of a hypersonic weapon system.

The use of a common hypersonic missile and joint test opportunities allow the services to pursue a more aggressive timeline for delivery and to realize cost savings, according to the Pentagon.

A Congressional Budget Office study from January 2023, buying 300 Intermediate-Range Hypersonic Boost-Glide Missiles, which are similar to the LRHW, was estimated to cost $41 million per missile in 2023 dollars.

But that’s just an estimate. Since the 2023 CBO cost estimate, the Pentagon has said little about the per missile cost of the LRHW.

With the Army planning to field LRHWs to units by the end of FY2025 – if the Army’s new leadership team concurs – an actual per missile cost should be available for policymakers,” according to the CRS note. “With an established per missile cost, the Army should also be able to provide Congress with details about the total LRHW stockpile it intends to procure and how long it will take to ‘grow’ the LRHW stockpile.”

The prime contractors on the project are Lockheed Martin, Dynetics Inc. and Dynetics Technical Solutions, according to the CBO report.

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