Ebrahim Raisi: Iran to hold presidential elections June 28

Iran has announced that it will hold presidential elections on June 28 to usher in new president, following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash according to reports from State media.

“The election calendar was approved at the meeting of the heads of the judiciary, government, and parliament,” state television said. “According to the initial agreement of the Guardian Council, it was decided that the 14th presidential election will be held on June 28.”

It would be recalled that Iranians on Monday mourned the death of Raisi whose helicopter crashed into a fog-shrouded mountain, setting off a period of political uncertainty in the Islamic republic.

Raisi, 63, his foreign minister and seven others died when the aircraft went down on Sunday in a remote area of northwestern Iran, where the wreckage was only found on Monday morning.

The ultraconservative Raisi had been in office since 2021, a turbulent time during which Iran was rocked by mass protests, an economic crisis deepened by US sanctions, and armed exchanges with arch-enemy Israel.

Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power  in the country declared five days of mourning and said vice president Mohammad Mokhber, 68, would assume interim presidential duties until elections are held within 50 days.

“The Iranian nation has lost a sincere and valuable servant,” said 85-year-old Khamenei, whom Raisi had been expected by many observers to one day succeed.

Thousands of mourners massed in central Tehran’s Valiasr Square to pay their respects to Raisi and to Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.