With Raisi’s death in chopper crash, who will be Iran’s new president?

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - After a night-long search operation hampered by bad weather, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other top officials have been declared dead.

Dozens of emergency rescue teams had been dispatched to the mountainous area in northwestern Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, where the incident took place on Sunday afternoon.

According to the Iranian Constitution, the first Vice President – Mohammad Mokhber – will now take over as the new president of the country for 50 days.

During this period, a high-powered council comprising the first vice president, the Speaker of Parliament and the chief of the judiciary have to make sure new elections are held.

Article 131 of the Iranian Constitution stipulates this, in the event of the death or illness of the sitting president.

“In the event of the death, removal, resignation, absence or illness of the president for more than two months, or in the event that the term of the presidency has ended and the new president has not yet been elected due to obstacles, the first vice president assumes his powers and responsibilities with the agreement of the leadership, and a council consisting of the speaker of the parliament, the head of the judiciary and the first vice president is obliged to arrange for early presidential elections to be held within a maximum period of fifty days,” says the article.

Raisi was elected Iran’s president in 2021 after winning by a landslide, garnering 17.9 million votes out of the 28.9 million cast during the polls.

He previously headed the Iranian judiciary and also served as the head of the revered Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, his hometown.