Iran names acting president after Raisi killed in crash

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named Mohammad Mokhber as the country's caretaker president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on 19 May.

Mokhber is the country's first vice-president. His appointment is in line with Iran's constitution, which calls for the first vice-president to step in, with the supreme leader's approval, if the president dies or is unable to carry out duties for a period of more than two months.

President Raisi was killed when his helicopter crashed in thick fog as he was heading to the city of Tabriz in northwest Iran.

Iran's constitution obliges Mokhber to work with the head of Iran's judiciary and the speaker of parliament to arrange for a new president to be elected within 50 days, which means an election must be held on or before 9 July.

Mokhber, who had been vice-president since Raisi took office in 2021, is considered part of Khamenei's inner circle, having spent almost a decade and a half at the helm of EIKO, an entity established 35 years ago by the supreme leader's predecessor, Imam Khomeini, to manage the state's commercial holdings.

Mokhber has in turn named deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri-Kani as acting foreign minister, replacing Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who was also killed in the crash.

Bagheri-Kani is a known quantity, having been on the front lines of Iran's foreign policy discussions since joining the foreign ministry in 2021. He led the Iranian delegation in the nuclear deal negotiations with world powers for the first year of Raisi's term, before the talks collapsed in late 2022 over disagreements about the level of sanctions relief any revived deal should deliver for Tehran.

Bagheri-Kani has also spearheaded discussions with Iran's Mideast Gulf neighbours, with whom the Raisi administration has been making a concerted effort to improve relations. Like Mokhber, Bagheri-Kani is technically only set to hold this position until a new president is elected and names a cabinet. But given the high regard in which he is held, and his track record to date, it is likely that he will hold onto the foreign policy portfolio under a new presidency.

Khamenei, meanwhile, has declared five days of mourning for the loss of Raisi, Amir-Abdollahian and the rest of the delegation, starting today.

By Nader Itayim