On May 19, 2024, a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and other Iranian officials crashed in the mountainous North-West of Iran, killing all on board. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared a five-day period of mourning in the country for President Ibrahim Raisi, who died in the helicopter crash.

Khamenei has already appointed First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as acting president, and he has a maximum period of 50 days to hold elections after Raisi’s death, Iranian official news agency IRNA reported. The Cabinet of Ministers appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani as acting Minister of Foreign Affairs.

State media reported that First Vice President Mokhber had already begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi’s absence. An emergency meeting of the Iranian Cabinet of Ministers following the state media’s announcement of the tragic death. Next, the Cabinet of Ministers issued a statement promising to follow in the footsteps of Raisi and that “with the help of God and the people, there will be no problems with governing the country.” A hardliner and the previous head of the country’s judicial system, Raisi was considered Khamenei’s protégé and some analysts suggested that he could replace the 85-year-old leader after the death or resignation of the ayatollah.

An endless series of tragedies

“The tragic loss of President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has presented the nation with new challenges that resuscitated hope among adversaries about the possibility of Iran plunging into a period of instability,” the influential Tehran Times newspaper noted. “But the Islamic Republic of Iran seems to be impervious to instability thanks to its historical roots and past experiences.”

Although the loss of President Raisi is grave and difficult to come to terms with, the Islamic Republic has experienced much more troublesome periods throughout its turbulent history. At the end of July 1981, when Tehran was battling Iraqi aggression on its territory, the first president of the Islamic Republic, Abolhassan Banisadr, fled the country after he was impeached. This was the first major political vacuum that the Islamic Republic faced in the early years of its existence.

Shortly after the impeachment of Banisadr, presidential elections were held in the Islamic Republic, resulting in the victory of Mohammed Ali........

© New Eastern Outlook