Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his International Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, died in a helicopter crash final night time. The plane, carrying prime officers, went down whereas crossing mountainous terrain in heavy fog whereas en path to the Iranian metropolis of Tabriz following the inauguration of the Qiz Qalasi Dam on the Iranian-Azerbaijani border.
Underneath the Iranian structure, the dying of a sitting president triggers particular protocols. First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, 69, will assume the presidency in an interim capability. Mokhber, a seasoned political determine with shut ties to Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei, has a historical past of serious affect inside the regime. He previously headed the Setad, a strong state-owned basis, and holds superior levels in worldwide regulation and administration.
READ: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Dies In Chopper Crash: Iran Media
A council consisting of Mokhber, Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Judiciary Chief Ghollamhossein Mohseni Ezhei is tasked with organising a brand new presidential election inside 50 days. This transition should be accepted by Supreme Chief Khamenei, who reassured the nation that state affairs would proceed with out disruption.
Mohammad Mokhber, born on September 1, 1955, is a determine deeply entrenched in Iran’s political and financial spheres. He assumed the function of first vice chairman in 2021 following Raisi’s election. Mokhber’s tenure at Setad, an organisation initially created to handle properties confiscated after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has been marked by controversy and sanctions. In 2010, the European Union included him in a sanctions record for his alleged involvement in nuclear and ballistic missile actions, though he was faraway from the record two years later.
LIVE Updates: New Footage Exhibits Web site Of Iran President’s Helicopter Crash
In 2013, the US Treasury Division included Setad and 37 corporations underneath its management on an inventory of sanctioned entities.
Setad, formally often called Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam (the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam), was established by an order from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founding father of the Islamic Republic and predecessor to Khamenei. The directive instructed aides to promote and handle properties purportedly deserted in the course of the turbulent interval following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with a lot of the proceeds supposed for charitable functions.
In line with Reuters, Mokhber was a part of a staff of Iranian officers who visited Moscow in October final 12 months and agreed to provide surface-to-surface missiles and extra drones to Russia’s army. The Iranian touring social gathering additionally included two senior officers from the Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme Nationwide Safety Council.
The sudden dying of Raisi, who was seen as an in depth however uncharismatic ally of Khamenei, might considerably alter the steadiness of energy inside Iran.
The stunning dying, in addition to Mokhber, opens the sector for different contenders, together with Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf , who has lengthy harboured presidential ambitions. Nevertheless, Qalibaf, a technocrat with a historical past of corruption allegations, may face a difficult path to securing the presidency.
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