The death in a helicopter crash of President Ebrahim Raisi, seen as a possible successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reshuffled the cards in the succession process and increased the spotlight on Iran’s No. 1 son Mojtaba as a contender.
Although analysts emphasize that it is impossible to know with certainty the intentions of the Iranian leadership, Raisi’s record as a pillar of the Islamic republic for decades made him an inevitable candidate to become the third supreme leader, after Khamenei and the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The supreme leader serves for life after being appointed by the Assembly of Experts and has the final say on all major matters, including foreign policy. Khamenei (85) has held this position since Khomeini’s death in 1989.
