Following Tehran's early Monday confirmation of the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, 63, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials after their helicopter went down over mountainous terrain near the border with Azerbaijan, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named a new acting president of the Islamic Republic.
Vice President Mohammad Mokhber has assume interim duties in the wake of Raisi's death. Additionally, Iran’s nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, has been named acting foreign minister. This follows a Sunday statement by Khamenei assuring the public that there would be continuity and stability in the nation's leadership. Iranians have taken to the streets in what's expected to be several days of a national mourning period.
Bodies of the deceased were hiked out of the remote region of the crash. They had to be physically carried on stretchers by rescuers who spent hours reaching the site amid difficult Sunday and overnight weather conditions.
State media has since indicated that aboard the presidential helicopter were nine people in total, including body guards and clerics. Their aging Bell helicopter had reportedly "hit a mountain and disintegrated" amid high fog, low visibility conditions. This was not at all the "hard landing" the world was initially informed about Sunday via state officials and media.
Iran’s Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand has told international media that his team is "transferring the bodies of the martyrs to Tabriz" and that "the search operations have come to an end."
Very quickly, theories emerged over the question of foreign involvement or a covert plot to assassinate the Iranian head of state. Israel has been quick to deny speculation of its involvement:
On Monday, an Israeli official denied involvement in the crash, telling the Reuters news agency: "It wasn’t us."
Raisi, 63, was widely regarded as a hardliner in the country and was nicknamed the 'butcher of Tehran' over his role in sentencing thousands of Iranian prisoners to their deaths in 1988.
The Taliban and Hezbollah are among those issuing their condolences, with the latter referencing "great brother" Raisi. Russia is offering any assistance needed, and statements of mourning are pouring in from world leaders, including the following:
Already President Putin has spoken directly by phone to Iran's interim President Mokhber. The Kremlin said in the call the Russian leader emphasized "mutual intention to further strengthen Russian-Iranian interaction."
Below is some summary background information on the newly appointed Iranian leader Mokhber:
Despite his low-key public profile, Mokhber has held prominent positions with in the country’s power structure, particularly in its bonyads, or charitable foundations. Those groups were fueled by donations or assets seized after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, particularly those previously associated with Iran’s shah or those in his government.
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 previously worked in banking and telecommunications. He also worked at the Mostazafan Foundation, another bonyad that’s a major conglomerate that manages the country’s mega-projects and businesses. While there, he found himself entangled in a bitter legal dispute between mobile phone service providers Turkcell and South Africa’s MTN over potentially entering the Iranian market.
And below is a brief backgrounder on new foreign minister Ali Bagher:
Below is a summary of the last 24 hours via Peter Tchir of Academy Securities:
For now it appears 'moderates' have temporarily replaced the 'moderate' Raisi and also deceased FM Amir-Abdollahian. The coming days will be interesting given everything happening in the Middle East, especially surrounding the Gaza war and the fact that Israel and Iran very nearly entered a full-blown war in recent months.