Iran's vice president will replace Raisi before the election

As the nation prepares for early elections, Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, is anticipated to take over as president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

According to the Iranian constitution, “in the event of the president’s death, dismissal, resignation, absence or illness for more than two months,” the first vice president shall assume the Presidency.

The approval of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say in all matters of state, is necessary for Mokhber’s temporary appointment.

Nearing the completion of his first four-year term as president, Raisi passed away on Sunday along with senior officials and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The constitution stipulates that presidential elections to select a permanent successor must take place within 50 days.

The speaker of the house of representatives, the head of the judiciary, and the vice president will form a council that will be in charge of planning the national vote.

The 68-year-old Mokhber was named vice president when Raisi assumed office in August 2021.The vice president was born and raised in Dezful, in the Khuzestan province in the southwest, where he has served in a number of public capacities.

Since 2007, Mokhber has served as the chair of the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, a government agency entrusted with the administration of properties seized in the wake of the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Since its founding in the 1980s, the foundation has expanded to become a significant state-owned economic conglomerate with holdings in a number of industries.