Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash yesterday – which means that presidential elections must quickly take place.
Regardless of the outcome of these, however, power will continue to remain in the hands of Supreme Leader (since 1989) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Following Raisi’s death, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber to run the affairs of the country.
Mokhber will organise the election for a new president to be held within 50 days, reports the BBC.
At the last election, all serious challengers to Raisi, who ultimately amassed few votes, were barred from running. The majority boycotted this fixed election. But for all intents and purposes, Raisi would have continued to rise to Iran’s leadership were it not for his untimely demise.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is head of state, commander-in-chief, head of national and morality police.
Iran has had a most turbulent history in the past decades, with the ultra-conservative impositions against women being challenged in a wave of protests in recent years.
It was Raisi himself who mandated a tightening of Iran’s “hijab and chastity law” which obligated women to behave and dress modestly including wearing a headscarf.
The tragic fate of Iran’s hardline president is not expected to disrupt the direction of Iranian policy or jolt the Islamic Republic in any consequential way, says a BBC analysis.
Despite optimism for change on behalf of the opposition, there is no shortage of hardliners capable of filling the late president’s shoes.
“For 40 some years, in Western narratives, Iran was supposed to collapse and fall apart,” Professor Mohammed Marandi of Tehran University told the BBC.
“But somehow, miraculously, it’s still here and I predict it will still be here in years to come.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died together with Raisi. Also a hardliner, he was essential as Iran’s public voice in the Middle East – including in the Gaza war.
Iran is currently in five days of national mourning.
Iran’s President Raisi killed in helicopter crash, state media confirms
