[TEHRAN = Yuji Yoshigata] The Iranian government announced on the 20th that a presidential election will be held on June 28th, following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. With the death of Raisi, who was seen as a likely candidate to become the next supreme leader, there is a possibility that the presidential election will determine the future direction of Iran, but the election will be centered around hard-line conservatives who continue to take an anti-American policy. That's it.


Under Iran's constitutional provisions, if a president dies, a new president must be elected within 50 days. On the 20th, First Vice President Mohammad Mokhbel, who was appointed as acting president, held a meeting with the Speaker of Parliament and the head of the judiciary to decide on the election schedule. Candidate registration will begin on the 30th.


In the last presidential election in 2021, in which hard-line conservative Reverend Raisi was first elected, only 7 out of 592 people who had submitted their candidacy were able to run during preliminary screening by the election oversight body, the Council for the Protection of the Constitution. All reformers who took a conciliatory approach in diplomacy and other areas were disqualified. It will be interesting to see whether reform groups actively participate this time.


People gather around a truck carrying the coffins of President Raisi and others to mourn in Tabriz, northwestern Iran, on the 21st (AP)


The bodies of the eight people who died in the helicopter crash, including Raisi, were moved from the scene in East Azerbaijan province to Tabriz, the provincial capital, where a funeral was held on the 21st. It will also be held in the capital Tehran on the 22nd.


Army Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri on Wednesday ordered senior officers to investigate the cause of the helicopter crash. Although the accident occurred in bad weather, Iranian media reported that the helicopter was a US-made Bell 212 developed in the 1960s.


Aircraft purchased from the United States before the Islamic Revolution of 1979 are still in use in Iran, mainly by the military. Under U.S. sanctions, parts procurement became difficult, and maintenance became an issue. It is unclear how old the helicopter Raishi was flying.


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