Iran gets acting President as nation holds memorial for late President

Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, will act as President just as the country holds memorial ceremonies for President Ebrahim Raisi who died in helicopter crash on Sunday.

The service will also be held in honour of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Tuesday.

Raisi, Amirabdollahian and seven senior Iranian officials died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

Local media reported that a ceremony is being planned in the provincial capital of Tabriz in the morning, followed by a ceremony in the religious stronghold and pilgrimage city of Qom.

The date for the funerals of the two statesmen has not yet been announced.

Raisi is to be buried in his hometown of Mashhad.

The helicopter crashed in dense fog on the mountains over East Azerbaijan Province while the deceased were travelling back from a meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

Meanwhile,
Mokhber will take over with the supreme leader’s approval, based on Article 131 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution.

The article also clarifies that a council consisting of the head of the legislation, the head of the judiciary and the vice president must coordinate choosing a new president within 50 days.

In a statement issued Monday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei applied the article and assented Mokhber as acting president.