Iran announces date for presidential election

TEHRAN: The presidential election in Iran will be held on June 28, the state-run news agency confirmed on Tuesday.

The decision was taken during an emergency meeting of the heads of branches of power chaired by Iran’s interim president Mohammad Mokhber.

The meeting decided to hold the presidential election in Iran on June 28: the registration of candidates will be done on May 30-June 3, and the election campaign period will be from June 12-27.

Article 131 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran states the formation of a council to manage the executive affairs of the country for a period of 50 days and prepare for the presidential elections.

Mohammad Mokhber, 68, was appointed Iran’s interim president on Monday, following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi died after a helicopter carrying him and his entourage crashed in the country’s East Azerbaijan province.

Who is Mokhber?

Here are some key facts about Mohammad Mokhber, 68, Iran’s first vice president.

* As interim president, Mokhber is part of a three-person council, along with the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary, that will organise a new presidential election within 50 days of the president’s death.

* Born on Sept. 1, 1955, Mokhber, like Raisi, is seen as close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has the last say in all matters of state. Mokhber became first vice president in 2021 when Raisi was elected president.

* Mokhber had previously been head of Setad, an investment fund linked to the supreme leader.

* In 2010, the European Union included Mokhber on a list of individuals and entities it was sanctioning for alleged involvement in “nuclear or ballistic missile activities”. Two years later, it removed him from the list.

* In 2013, the U.S. Treasury Department added Setad and 37 companies it oversaw to a list of sanctioned entities.

* Setad, whose full name is Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam, or the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was set up under an order issued by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei’s predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It ordered aides to sell and manage properties supposedly abandoned in the chaotic years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and channel the bulk of the proceeds to charity.