Who is Mohammed Mokhber? The interim president who will lead Iran for the next fifty days

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed Mohammad Mokhber as the country’s acting president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

Raisi, his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and two senior local officials were traveling with their security officers in a helicopter when the plane crashed in the mountainous region of northwestern Iran on Sunday.

The crash site was discovered Monday morning on the side of a steep mountain, leaving only the burned-out wreckage of the helicopter. There were no survivors.

Ayatollah Khamenei not only announced five days of national mourning, but also named Raisi’s first vice president as the man to lead the country until a new full-time president can be elected.

Mokhber, who has been Raisi’s deputy since he was first elected in 2021, is perhaps even more importantly seen as someone close to the ayatollah, who has the final say in all state affairs. As a result, Mr Mokhber will be seen as one of the stronger contenders to replace Raisi permanently.

He was quickly appointed interim president at an emergency meeting chaired by the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of the government.

“We will follow the path of President Raisi in fulfilling the assigned tasks without any interruption,” Mokhber said after his appointment.

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic stipulates that in the event of the president’s death or incapacitation, the first vice president will take over for an interim period of 50 days. During that time, the acting president must work with the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary to ensure that urgent presidential elections are held.

Khamenei confirmed in his statement that this would be Mokhber’s main priority “within a maximum of 50 days”. He previously said that there will be “no disruption of work in the country” during this period of uncertainty.

Mr Mokhber is apparently a trusted hand in the eyes of the supreme leader, having headed Setad, an investment fund linked to the country’s religious leadership, for fourteen years. Setad, formally known as the Headquarters for the Execution of the Order of the Imam, was founded by Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to organize the management and sale of properties left behind during the Islamic Revolution.

Setad and 37 companies he oversaw were added to a list of entities sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2013.

Mr Mokhber has also been personally sanctioned by the EU in the past. In 2010, the bloc added him to a list of individuals and entities to be prosecuted for alleged involvement in “nuclear or ballistic missile activities.” Two years later he was removed from the list.

Mr Mokhber was part of a team of Iranian officials who visited Moscow in October and agreed to supply surface-to-surface missiles and more drones to the Russian military, sources told Reuters. The team also included two senior officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme National Security Council.

Iran’s cabinet also appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani as acting foreign minister following Amirabdollahian’s death.