Iran Update, May 22, 2024
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stressed the continuity of Iranian foreign policy in meetings with several foreign dignitaries who attended Raisi’s funeral. Khamenei held separate meetings with senior officials from Armenia, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Tunisia, and Qatar as well as Hamas officials to emphasize Iran’s commitment to preserving ties with these actors.[12] Iranian media claimed that officials from over 90 countries attended Raisi’s funeral procession, making Khamenei’s meeting with these seven actors particularly noteworthy.[13] Interim President Mohammad Mokhber and Interim Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Bagheri Kani attended the meetings that Khamenei held with Iraqi, Hamas, and Pakistani officials, suggesting that Khamenei is particularly concerned about projecting continuity to these actors.[14] It is possible that Mokhber and Bagheri Kani attended other meetings as well. Khamenei emphasized Mokhber’s presidential powers and Iran‘s uninterrupted commitment to its partnerships in several of these meetings.[15] Iran may delay some diplomatic processes, such as negotiations, however, until it elects its next president.
The regime may seek to leverage perceived international sympathy for Raisi’s death to forge ties with new strategic partners. Iranian media and regime-affiliated social media users boasted that some Egyptian and Tunisian officials traveled to Iran for the first time to attend Raisi’s funeral and celebrated international turnout.[16]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-may-22-2024
Iran Update, May 23, 2024
Iran is capitalizing on the presence of senior Axis of Resistance officials in Tehran for Ebrahim Raisi’s funeral to coordinate and cohere their approaches to the Israel–Hamas war. Iranian leaders held two meetings with senior Axis of Resistance officials in Tehran on May 23.[1] The first meeting included senior IRGC officers and representatives from several Palestinian militias, Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Houthis.[2] The participants discussed the “continuation of the jihad and struggle until the complete victory of the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.”
Photos published by Iranian state media indicate that the following individuals were in that meeting:
IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami
IRGC Quds Force Commander Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani
Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Deputy Secretary General Mohammad al Hindi
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Deputy Secretary General Jamil Mezher
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem
Houthi spokesperson Mohammad Abdul Salam
The second meeting involved the following individuals based on photos published by Iranian state media:
Acting Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Bagheri Kani
Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh
Hamas founder Mousa Abu Marzouk
Hamas Deputy Leader in the West Bank Zaher Jabarin
PIJ Deputy Secretary General Mohammad al Hindi
PIJ Leader in Lebanon Ihsan Ataya
PFLP Deputy Secretary General Jamil Mezher
The publication of this information is especially noteworthy given that Iranian state media does not typically report on such meetings in such detail. Iran likely published the information to signal the close alignment and cooperation between Tehran and its regional partners and proxies.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-may-23-2024