What will happen in Iran now President Raisi is dead – and who will be his successor?

The Islamic Republic has only 50 days to pick a new president, so what will they do? Camelia Entekhabifard explains that we are facing a very unpredictable election...

On Sunday, Ebrahim Raisi, president of the Islamic Republic, died in a helicopter crash in Iran’s Varzaqan region. But what was initially a huge shock is now gradually giving way to planning and crisis management.

It was more than 40 years ago when Mohammad Javad Bahonar and Mohammad Hossein Rajaei, then prime minister and president, were assassinated. The government has not had another domestic crisis – until now.

Raisi, 63, died alongside Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and two senior local officials on board the helicopter, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.