Mali and Burkina Faso threaten war over plans for military intervention in Niger
Mali and Burkina Faso have warned other West African nations that military intervention in Niger will be considered a declaration of warfare against them.
It comes after Niger’s presidential guard surrounded the palace in the capital Niamey, detained elected president Mohamed Bazoum, and announced a new military government.
The West African regional body – known as ECOWAS – has threatened to use force if coup leaders in Niger do not reinstate the president by the weekend.
But Mali and Burkina Faso, both run by military governments, have warned in a joint statement they will consider any direct intervention in Niger as a “declaration of war” against them.
The two countries – who are both suspended from ECOWAS – have also denounced the regional body’s economic sanctions against Niger as “illegal, illegitimate and inhumane” and have refused to apply them.
ECOWAS suspended all commercial and financial transactions between its member states and Niger, as well as freezing Nigerien assets held in regional central banks, in the wake of the military coup.
Niger – already one of the poorest countries in the world – has also faced cuts to foreign aid from Western nations following the military takeover.
Meanwhile, France and Italy have announced plans to evacuate their citizens from Niger, with officials in Paris also offering to repatriate European nationals.
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Could Niger align itself with Russia?
Mali and Burkina Faso, which neighbour Niger on its western border, have each undergone two coups since 2020. Both are currently suspended from ECOWAS as a result.
The regional body has also imposed sanctions against the two ruling juntas, but has never threatened to use force against them.
Guinea, another country under military rule since 2021, has also shared its support of Niger’s junta and urged ECOWAS to “come to its senses”.
“The sanctions measures advocated by ECOWAS, including military intervention, are an option that would not be a solution to the current problem, but would lead to a human disaster whose consequences could extend beyond Niger’s borders,” said Ibrahima Sory Bangoura, general of the brigade in a statement from the ruling party.
He added the Guinea would not apply the sanctions.
Condemnation from the West
Mr Bazoum was elected two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France – and was largely seen as a Western, and regional, ally in West Africa.
On Sunday, anti-government protesters marched through the streets of the capital waving Russian flags and denouncing France.
Demonstrators in Niamey converged on the French embassy and set fire to its doors, stoned the building and burned the country’s flags.
Mohamed Bazoum (R) pictured with Chad leader Mahamat Idriss Deby (L). Pic: Mahamat Idriss Deby/Facebook
Russian mercenary group Wagner is already operating in neighbouring Mali and its boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has hailed the coup as good news and offered his fighters’ services.
The Kremlin said the situation in Niger is “cause for serious concern”, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying that Russia called for all sides in the coup to show restraint.
The coup in Niger has been widely condemned by neighbours and international partners including the US, the United Nations, the European Union and France.
They have all refused to recognise the new leaders and have demanded the elected president’s return.
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Russia will look on coup ‘very favourably’
France has also announced a planned evacuation from Niger for French and European nationals, citing recent violence outside its embassy in Niamey as one of the reasons for the decision.
The closure of Niger’s airspace also “leaves our compatriots unable to leave the country by their own means,” the ministry said.
Italy’s foreign minister on Tuesday said the government would also arrange a special flight to repatriate nationals from Niamey.
Nigerien security forces prepare to disperse pro-junta demonstrators outside the French embassy, in Niamey
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commended the resolve of the ECOWAS leadership to “defend constitutional order in Niger” after sanctions were announced.
He also joined the bloc in calling for the immediate release of Mr Bazoum and his family.
On Sunday, one of the leaders of the military coup, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, claimed the ousted government authorised France to carry out strikes to free the president.
He alleged the Niger foreign minister, acting as prime minister, signed the order allowing France to take action.
France – which ruled Niger as a colony until 1960 – has 1,500 soldiers in the country. They had been conducting joint operations with its government, with protesters appearing to be against having foreign military forces in their country.
The now-ruling military has warned foreign governments against trying to free Mr Bazoum, saying it would result in chaos and bloodshed.
France’s foreign ministry refused to confirm or deny that authorisation had been made, telling journalists the only authority it recognises is that of Mr Bazoum.
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Head of coup becomes Niger’s leader
Development aid suspended by France
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, receiving close to $2bn (£1.6bn) a year in official development assistance, according to the World Bank.
It is also a security partner of France and the US, which both use it as a base to fight an Islamist insurgency in West and Central Africa’s wider Sahel region.
Conflict experts say out of all the countries in the region, Niger has the most at stake if it turns away from the West, given the millions of dollars of military assistance the international community has poured in.
Pro-junta demonstrators gathered outside the French embassy
France has suspended all development aid and other financial aid for Niger.
The Elysee Palace said in a statement: “Anyone who attacks French nationals, the military, diplomats, or French interests will spur an immediate and uncompromising response from France.”
In the UK, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement that Britain “condemns in the strongest possible terms attempts to undermine democracy, peace and stability in Niger”.
World
President Raisi’s death a perilous moment for Iran regime – but don’t expect a change to foreign policy
This is a delicate time for Iran. President Raisi was the second most important man in Iran, after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His death, now confirmed, will have far-reaching consequences.
Although Khamenei has tried to reassure the country in recent hours, the regime will know this is a perilous moment that must be handled carefully.
Live updates – Iranian president killed in crash
There are mechanisms to protect the regime in events like this and the Revolutionary Guard, which was founded in 1979 precisely for that purpose, will be a major player in what comes next.
In the immediate term, vice-president Mohammed Mokhber will assume control and elections will be held within 50 days.
Mokhber isn’t as close to the supreme leader as Raisi was, and won’t enjoy his standing, but he has run much of Khamenei’s finances for years and is credited with helping Iran evade some of the many sanctions levied on it.
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Drone footage of helicopter crash site
Raisi’s successor will most likely be the chosen candidate of the supreme leader and certainly another ultra-conservative hardliner – a shift back to the moderates is highly unlikely.
Likewise, we shouldn’t expect any significant change in Iran’s foreign activities or involvement with the war in Gaza. It will be business as usual, as much as possible.
However, after years of anti-government demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, this might be a moment for the protest movement to rise up and take to the streets again.
Read more:
Who was hardliner Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi?
‘Butcher of Tehran’ had fearsome reputation – many will fear instability
Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi wins landslide victory
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Islamic State may seek to take advantage
There are also many dissident groups inside Iran, including an off-shoot of Islamic State – they might seek to take advantage of this situation.
Raisi became president in 2021 at the second time of asking and only with a turnout of 41%, the lowest since the 1979 revolution.
The president was considered one of the two frontrunners to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamanei (pictured). Pic: Reuters
He was not a universally popular figure and many inside Iran will celebrate his death.
Consequences for supreme leader
Longer term, Raisi’s death will have consequences for the supreme leader.
He was considered one of the two frontrunners to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamanei on his death – the other being Khamanei’s son Mojtaba.
For religious and conservative Iranians, Raisi’s death will be mourned; for many though, it will be the passing of a man who had blood on his hands.
World
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi confirmed dead in helicopter crash after charred wreckage found
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has died after the helicopter he was travelling in crashed in a mountainous area of northwest Iran.
Rescuers found the burned remains of the aircraft on Monday morning after the president and his foreign minister had been missing for more than 12 hours.
“President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters, asking not to be named.
Live updates – Iranian president killed in crash
Iran‘s Mehr news agency reported “all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred”.
State TV said images showed it had smashed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word on the cause of the crash.
“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash… unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” an official told Reuters.
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President of Iran killed in crash
The crash happened in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province
As the sun rose, rescuers saw the wreckage from around 1.25 miles, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, told state media.
Iranian news agency IRNA said the president was flying in an American-made Bell 212 helicopter.
Read more:
Who is Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi?
Many will be fearing instability after ‘butcher of Tehran’ killed
Iranian TV showed the president on the helicopter during a trip to Azerbaijan
TV pictures from Sunday showed thick fog at the search site. Pic: IRNA
Mr Raisi, 63, who was seen as a frontrunner to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iran’s supreme leader, was travelling back from Azerbaijan where he had opened a dam with the country’s president.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, also died in the crash.
The governor of East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards were also said to have been on board when the helicopter crashed in fog on Sunday.
Iranian media initially described it as a “hard landing”.
The chief of staff of Iran’s army had ordered all military resources and the Revolutionary Guard to be deployed in the search, which had been hampered by bad weather.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to react to the news of Mr Raisi’s death.
“India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow,” he said in a post on X.
A helicopter carrying Iran’s president crashed during bad weather on Sunday.
But who is Ebrahim Raisi – a leader who faces sanctions from the US and other nations over his involvement in the mass execution of prisoners in 1988.
The president, 63, who was travelling alongside the foreign minister and two other key Iranian figures when their helicopter crashed, had been travelling across the far northwest of Iran following a visit to Azerbaijan.
Follow live: Rescuers search for president after helicopter crash
Mr Raisi is a hardliner and former head of the judiciary who some have suggested could one day replace Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Because of his part in the sentencing of thousands of prisoners of conscience to death back in the 1980s, he was nicknamed the Butcher of Tehran as he sat on the so-called Death Panel, for which he was then sanctioned by the US.
Raisi and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday. Pic: Reuters
Both a revered and a controversial figure, Mr Raisi supported the country’s security services as they cracked down on all dissent, including in the aftermath of the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini – the woman who died after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly – and the nationwide protests that followed.
The months-long security crackdown killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained.
People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, 2022. Pic: Reuters
In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Ms Amini’s death after her arrest for not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities.
The president is seen as a frontrunner to replace Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured). Pic: Reuters
The president also supported Iran’s unprecedented decision in April to launch a drone and missile attack on Israel amid its war with Hamas, the ruling militant group in Gaza responsible for the 7 October attacks which saw 1,200 people killed in southern Israel.
Involvement in mass executions
Mr Raisi is sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.
Under the president, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections.
Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine and has continued arming proxy groups in the Middle East, such as Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
He successfully ran for the presidency back in August 2021 in a vote that got the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history as all of his potentially prominent opponents were barred from running under Iran’s vetting system.
A presidency run in 2017 saw him lose to Hassan Rouhani, the relatively moderate cleric who as president reached Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
‘Very involved in anything’
Alistair Bunkall, Sky News’s Middle East correspondent, said the president is “a major figure in Iranian political and religious society” but “he’s not universally popular by any means” as his administration has seen a series of protests in the past few years against his and the government’s “hardline attitude”.
Mr Raisi is nonetheless “considered one of the two frontrunners to potentially take over” the Iranian regime when the current supreme leader dies, Bunkall said.
He added the president would have been “instrumental” in many of Iran’s activities in the region as he “would’ve been very involved in anything particularly what has been happening in Israel and the surrounding areas like Lebanon and Gaza and the Houthis over the last seven and a bit months”.
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