What the sudden death of Iran’s president will mean for the Middle East and beyond

There is a series of unanswered questions around the helicopter crash which killed Ebrahim Raisi, but one thing is clear, writes Kim Sengupta – the hardline establishment will not willingly loosen its grip on power

Rescuers recover bodies at the crash site of a helicopter transporting Iran's president, his foreign minister, and others (Getty)

What next for Iran? The sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi creates a vacuum at the top of the country’s political and theocratic hierarchy as the country goes through a time of turbulent strife at home and abroad.

The hardline president had backing from the pillars of the Islamic Republic, including the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps) and the conservative clergy, placing him as the probable successor to the ageing and ailing supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

As a new leadership begins to be formed, questions are being asked about the circumstances surrounding the helicopter crash north of Tabriz which killed both Raisi and high-profile foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.