Iran’s government have declared their former president is a martyr, and this is forming part of the political campaign ahead of the election.
Close allies: Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the man who was expected to succeed him, President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopted crash on May 19 2024.
ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Live News
Moderates are likely to be shut out of the race for the presidency, now seen as a stepping stone to Iran’s top job.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, speaks to the media after casting his vote during the 2024 parliamentary elections in Tehran, Iran.
Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA
The late President Ebrahim Raisi was supposedly being groomed to succeed an aging Ali Khamenei. The succession is a complex process, more dependent on politics than religion.
Ebrahim Raisi held substantial sway over Iran’s domestic and foreign policies. So, how will the regime fill his void at a challenging time for the country?
Iranian rescue workers near the wreckage of the helicopter that crashed carrying Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, in Tabriz province, Iran.
AZIN HAGHIGHI/MOJ NEWS / EPA
It’s a precarious situation, but pressure from the US and Saudi Arabia, among others, is gradually pushing the two warring sides towards a deal. But a lot can still go wrong.
Iranian commentators are warning of a potential economic shock and wider public unrest should Trump resume his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against the country’s leaders.
Members of the security forces try to stop protesters during a pro-Palestinian rally near the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan, in October 2023.
Mohammad Ali / EPA
More than 240 US personnel died in truck bombing – remembered as the worst day in his career by Gen. Alfred M. Gray Jr., who died on March 20, 2024.
A woman chants slogans as she holds an Iranian flag during an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran on April 19, 2024. Israel reportedly retaliated against Iran on April 19 for its drone-and-missile assault on Israel a week earlier.
(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Israel’s latest missile strike on Iran may be more a face-saving exercise aimed at satisfying members of its coalition government than a true escalation of hostilities.
How far the violent exchanges between Israel and Iran will escalate may well hinge on how strong the two sides’ leader need to appear to their own people.