First VP appointed interim president

TEHERAN — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday appointed the country's First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber as interim president following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

Khamenei stressed that the first vice-president was duty-bound to, in cooperation with the parliament speaker and judiciary chief, make the arrangements for the election of the new president within 50 days.

Mokhber, 68, is expected to serve as caretaker president for some 50 days before mandatory presidential elections in Iran.

Khamenei made the announcement in a condolence message he shared for Raisi's death in the crash on Sunday.

Mokhber became first vice-president in 2021 when Raisi was elected president.

Mokhber had already begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi's absence, state media reported.

An emergency meeting of Iran's Cabinet was held. The Cabinet issued a statement afterward pledging it would follow Raisi's path and that "with the help of God and the people, there will be no problem with management of the country".

As interim president, Mokhber is part of a three-person council, along with the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary, that will organize a new presidential election within 50 days of the president's death.

Mokhber oversaw a bonyad, known in English as the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order, or EIKO, referring to the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Mokhber has been a member of Iran's Expediency Council since 2022, which advises the supreme leader, as well as settles disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council, Iran's constitutional watchdog that also oversees the country's elections.

Agencies - Xinhua