What will happen next in Iran?

The sudden death of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi risks further instability in the crisis-stricken country

Photo composite of (L-R) VP Mohammad Mokhber, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf
Interim president Mohammad Mokhber, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (L-R) will hold the balance of power
(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Shutterstock / Getty Images)

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, an ultra-conservative seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed in a helicopter crash near Iran's border with Azerbaijan, according to state media.

Raisi "stood close to the pinnacle of power in the Islamic Republic and was widely tipped to rise to its very top", said BBC chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, but fate has "dealt him a different hand". His sudden death has "upended" speculation over who will eventually replace 85-year-old Khamenei – who holds the true seat of power in the Islamic Republic – and whose reportedly ailing health has long been the focus of "intense interest".

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 Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.