Khamenei Agrees To Vice President Mokhber To Carry Out Presidential Duties And Prepares Election Implementation

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Mokhber. (Wikimedia Commons/Tasnim News Agency/Vaid Ahmadi)

JAKARTA - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Board of Trustees on Monday approved Vice President Mohammad Mokhber to carry out presidential duties after the helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi.

Iranian Board of Trustees spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif announced that according to the Constitution, the vice president would take over the post-presidential office with the approval of the Supreme Leader.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved Vice President Mohammad Mokhber to take over the interim presidential office after the death of the late President Raisi, quoted from IRNA May 20.

Tahan Nazif in an interview on Monday said, with the approval of the Supreme Leader, a council consisting of Iran's justice chairman, parliamentary chairman, and vice president will take action for the election within the next 50 days.

He said, as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, "The Iranian nation does not need to worry. There will be no disruption to state operations."

According to Article 131 of the Iranian Constitution, in the event that the president dies, is fired, resigns, is not present, or is ill for more than two months, or when his term of office has ended and the new president has not been elected because if there are obstacles, or other similar circumstances, the vice president will take over the authority and function of the president with the approval of the Supreme Leader.

If the vice president dies, or other things that prevent him from carrying out his duties, or if the president does not have a vice president, the Supreme Leader appoints another person to replace him.

Earlier, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were reportedly killed in a helicopter crash in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.

The helicopter carrying the two crashed on Sunday in the forest of Dizmar, located between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azarbaijan Province. Apart from President Raisi and Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, the helicopter also carried East Azarbaijan GovernorCY Rahmati, Friday prayer leader in Tabriz Seyyed City Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, and member of the presidential escort team Mahdi Mousavi. The pilot, co-pilot, and helicopter crew were also inside the helicopter.

The accident occurred after President Raisi and his accompanying delegation returned from the dam inauguration ceremony on the Aras River with President Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.