Mohammad Mokhber is stepping in as interim president of Iran
The Future of the Iran’s High-Dimensional High-Sensitivity High-Energy Government as Destroyed by the Raisi Violations
Whether President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others draw the same crowd remains in question, particularly as Raisi died in a helicopter crash, won his office in the lowest-turnout election in the country’s history and presided over sweeping crackdowns on all dissent. Prosecutors already have warned people over showing any public signs of celebrating his death and a heavy security force presence has been seen on the streets of Tehran since the crash.
Iran’s top-elected official is the president. Mokhber will be in that role temporarily since Iran’s constitution requires a new election within 50 days of the president’s death.
Robin Wright, a joint fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Wilson Center, says Raisi’s death may not shake up the day-to-day running of the country, but rather its longer-term future, as the hardliner was widely considered a potential successor to 85-year-old Khamenei.
“There will be a process that’s in place, they will find a new president, but the scramble behind the scenes will be very, very interesting,” she told Morning Edition.
“The framework and foundations of the system are strong, and there will not be the slightest problem in the administration of the country under the permanent shadow of the leadership,” Mokhber said.
“If his past is any indication of his future, his current role in the elected branch of government will be used to perpetuate corruption, implement a resistance economy, and punish regime enemies,” says United Against Nuclear Iran.
The first deputy to the president can be given the responsibilities of administering the affairs of the Council of Ministers with the approval of the president.
The power and functions of the president in the case of their death, dismissal or absent president will be assumed by the first vice president with approval of the supreme leader.
“The Council, consisting of the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, head of the judicial power, and the first deputy of the President, is obliged to arrange for a new President to be elected within a maximum period of fifty days,” reads Article 131.
What to know about Mohammad Mokhber, who is stepping in as interim president of Iran, according to United Against Nuclear Iran
Mokhber, as first vice president, traveled to Iran to shore up support, including visiting the site of a collapse in which dozens of people were killed. He also had a hand in international diplomacy, receiving visiting leaders from places like Syria and China.
He is part of a group of Iranian security officials who went to Moscow in October of 2022, only months into the war with Russia, to discuss weapons deliveries. The group agreed to give Russia more missiles and drones.
The Washington Post reported that during that visit, Mokhber blamed NATO for the killing of Ukrainians and proposed an Iranian-Russian working group to undermine Western sanctions.
“We have been under these sanctions for 40 years and did not allow them to undermine the government of the country or to seriously affect us,” he said of Iran, suggesting they had much to teach Moscow.
United Against Nuclear Iran, a U.S.-based nonprofit advocacy organization, says Mokhber spent a large part of his career working at “important Bonyads implicated in Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs, terrorism, corruption, mismanagement, human rights violations, and sanctions evasion.”
The USTreasury Department has described them as “opaque quasi-official organizations that report directly to the Supreme Leader.” It says a lack of accountability has enabled systemic corruption and mismanagement to grow and accumulate wealth without benefiting the Iranian people.
Setad had a chief executive in Mokhber who joined in 2007. The U.S. imposed sanctions on the organization in 2013, calling it a “massive network of front companies hiding assets on behalf of the Government of Iran’s leadership.”
Mokhber was one of the people who oversaw the creation of a vaccine during the height of the epidemic. The Associated Press says “only a fraction” of its promised tens of millions of doses “ever made it to the public, without explanation.”
Source: What to know about Mohammad Mokhber, who is stepping in as interim president of Iran
The Execution of the Islamic Resistance Economy by Mokhber and a Cellular Phone Service Provider During the 1979 Iranian Revolution
“EIKO has systematically violated the rights of dissidents by confiscating land and property from opponents of the regime, including political opponents, religious minorities, and exiled Iranians, while, according to its leader Mohammad Mokhber, being tasked by the Supreme Leader to implement a resistance economy,” the Treasury Department said at the time, describing an economy that tries to circumvent sanctions.
Mokhber was also among a group of seven Iranians that the European Union sanctioned in 2010 for involvement in “nuclear or ballistic missiles activities.” The man was removed from the list two years later.
The Mostazafan Foundation is a conglomerate of holdings that the Treasury Department says is used to reward his allies under the pretense of charity.
During Mokhber’s tenure at Mostazafan, he ended up embroiled in a legal battle between two mobile phone service providers — Turkcell and MTN — looking to enter the Iranian market, the AP reports. Turkcell alleged that Mokhber used improper influence, up to and including negotiating with and on behalf of the Supreme Leader in the matter.
A series of ceremonies aimed at both honoring the dead and projecting strength began on Tuesday for the funeral of Iran’s president, who died in a helicopter crash.
For Iran’s Shiite theocracy, mass demonstrations have been crucial since millions thronged the streets of Tehran to welcome Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution. One million people were expected to attend processions for the Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
“Raisi’s death happens at a time when the regime is consolidated” wrote Alex Vatanka, an Iran expert. “After a few days of uncertainty, post-Khamenei Iran looks less predictable than it did before; however, there will be no power vacuum in Tehran.”
Raisi’s hometown, Mashhad, is Tehran: mourners begin funerals for Iran’s president and other killed in helicopter crash
A procession moving the caskets of the dead slowly made its way down the narrow streets of downtown Tabriz, the closest major city to the crash site. Thousands of black-clad people walked beside the coffins while some threw flowers up to them, as an emcee cried through a loudspeaker for men he said were martyrs.
The bodies will go to the seminaries city of Qom before going to Tehran later Tuesday. On Wednesday, a funeral presided over by Khamenei will then turn into a procession as well. On Thursday, Raisi’s hometown of Birjand will see a procession, followed by a funeral and burial at the Imam Reza shrine in the holy city of Mashhad, the only imam of the Shiite’s faith buried in Iran.
That shrine has long been a center for pilgrims and sees millions visit each year. Over the centuries, its grounds have served as the final burial site for heroes in Persian history. It’s an incredibly high, rare honor in the faith. Rajai, the only other president to die in office, was buried in Tehran.
Across Iran, its rural population often more closely embraces the Shiite faith and the government. However, Tehran has long held a far different view of Raisi and his government’s policies as mass protests have roiled the capital for years.
Source: Mourners begin funerals for Iran’s president and others killed in helicopter crash
The latest incident of anti-government protests against a woman in handcuffs, and a no-go theorem for the next supreme leader
The death of a woman in handcuffs due to her alleged loose headscarf is the most recent case. The monthslong security crackdown that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. The United Nations determined that Iran was responsible for the physical violence that lead to Amini’s death.
As the helicopter crash was being reported on, some people offered anti-government chants. Fireworks could be seen in some parts of the capital, though Sunday also marked a remembrance for Imam Reza, which can see them set off as well. Critical messages and dark jokes over the crash also circulated online.
According to the ISNA news agency, the top prosecutor in Iran ordered the filing of cases against those who published false information about Raisi and others who were killed in the crash.
Meanwhile Tuesday, Iran’s new Assembly of Experts opened its first session after an election that decided the new assembly, a panel of which both Raisi and the late Tabriz Friday leader Mohammad Ali Ale-Heshem were members. The 88-member panel, tasked with selecting the nation’s next supreme leader, had flowers sit on the seats they would have occupied.
