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[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Much of the world was caught by surprise when Ebrahim Raisi, the President of Iran and anticipated successor to the country’s Supreme Leader, was killed in a helicopter crash along with the country’s Foreign Minister over the weekend. Iran’s role on the world stage had become increasingly complex under Raisi’s leadership, as the regime navigated long simmering tensions with Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the U.

Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s 43-year-old minister of digital affairs, has a powerful effect on people. At a panel discussion at Northeastern University in Boston, 20-year-old student Diane Grant is visibly moved, describing Tang’s talk as the best she’s been to in her undergraduate career. Later that day, a German tourist recognizes Tang leaving the Boston Museum of Science and requests a photo, saying she’s “starstruck.” At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a trio of world-leading economists bashfully ask Tang to don a baseball cap emblazoned with the name of their research center and pose for a group photo.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a protege of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday. The pair were returning to Tehran after attending a ceremony with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the Iran-Azerbaijan border to inaugurate the building of the new Qiz Qalasi Dam. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Khamenei said that the country would undergo a five-day mourning period.

It was a speech that preached harmony while highlighting differences. After William Lai Ching-te was sworn in as Taiwan’s new President on Monday, he used his first address to call for repairing cross-Strait relations, while namechecking “democracy” 31 times to underscore the gulf between his island’s government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) determined to bring it to heel. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Mutual benefits and prosperous coexistence would be common goals,” Lai, 64, told the crowd that featured eight heads of state among 51 international delegations, including from the U.

The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash raises the immediate question of who will succeed him in running the government. Raisi was not only expected to succeed the 85-year-old Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but his death also has consequences for the future of one of the most powerful positions in the Middle East. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Read More: The List of Potential Suspects in the Mysterious Death of Iran’s President Raisi What is the difference between Supreme Leader and President? The Supreme Leader, also known as the Velayat-e Faqih in Shia Islamic theology, is the ultimate ruler in Iran and is responsible for making all major decisions concerning the state.