Iran government continues 'without disruption' following president Raisi's death

News Desk - The Caravan

First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber has been named interim president as per the Iranian constitution

The process of succession is underway in Iran following the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash on 19 May.

In a statement following Raisi's death, the Iranian government said it would continue to operate “without disruption.”

First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber has been named interim president, as per section 131 of the Iranian constitution.

He will then be replaced by a successor following an election that must take place within 50 days of Raisi's death being declared.

Candidates to run for president must be approved by the 12-member Guardian Council to ensure their commitment to the principles of the 1979 revolution, which established the Islamic Republic.

In Iran's system of governance, the president is subordinate to Islamic Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Raisi, a religious cleric, was close with Khamenei and considered the likely successor to the aging Supreme Leader.

Vice President Mokhber is also seen as close to Supreme Leader Khamenei. Mokhber became first vice president in 2021 when Raisi was elected president.

Mokhber had previously been head of Setad, an investment fund linked to Khamenei. Setad was established to sell and manage properties supposedly abandoned after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and to direct the proceeds to charity.

Iran's cabinet has appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani as acting foreign minister to replace Amir-Abdollahian, who was popularly known for shuttling between Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen for talks between Axis of Resistance members to coordinate the response to Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. 

Kani has been a political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran since September 2021. He was the lead negotiator in the mediation between Iran and the US in a September 2023 prisoner release deal, which saw the US release $6 billion in seized Iranian funds.

On Monday, the Iranian Red Crescent stated it had recovered Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian's bodies and that they would be transferred to the city of Tabriz in north Iran.

“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” Khamenei said in a statement by the official news agency IRNA.

Semi-official Tasnim reported that President Raisi's funeral will be held on Tuesday in Tabriz.