Who’s Mohammad Mokhber, Iran’s interim president? | Politics Information

Mokhber led the Iranian supreme chief’s multibillion-dollar charitable conglomerate for 14 years.

Mohammad Mokhber is Iran’s interim president now after late President Ebrahim Raisi and different officers have been confirmed killed in a helicopter crash and Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei authorised his accession to the position.

The previous first vp held a unprecedented assembly with judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliament speaker, on Monday morning.

As per the structure, the three should set issues in movement for a brand new presidential election to be held inside 50 days.

Mokhber will stay interim president till then. “We are going to comply with the trail of Raisi in doing the duties entrusted with none disruptions,” he was quoted as saying by state media.

First vp

Mokhber was appointed first vp by Raisi in August 2021, shortly after Raisi took workplace.

He’s the seventh particular person to serve in that position for the reason that revision of the structure in 1989 – and one of the influential.

As first vp, Mokhber travelled throughout the nation to inaugurate quite a lot of authorities improvement tasks and accompanied Raisi or led delegations himself on many overseas journeys. He’s reported to have visited Russia, together with senior navy and safety officers, to debate arms transfers.

Mokhber was on a listing of people and entities sanctioned by the European Union in 2010 for alleged involvement in actions regarding Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Two years later, the bloc eliminated him from the listing.

Not like different international locations, Iran’s first vice presidency is an appointed – not elected – place that assumed a number of the powers of the prime minister after the place was abolished in 1989.

There are a number of appointed vice presidents serving concurrently in Iran, every taking up totally different points of government affairs however working largely like a cupboard.

Mokhber’s place was the highest amongst vice presidents.

He was chosen as a result of he had a robust reference to the workplace of the supreme chief, just like the late president himself, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

He was additionally seen as a person of motion with longstanding expertise in managing large-scale government affairs.

Setad

Earlier than his appointment to the vice presidency, Mokhber served for 14 years as head of Iran’s Setad, or the Organisation for the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order.

Setad is a extremely highly effective financial conglomerate established below Iran’s first supreme chief, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to give attention to charitable affairs.

It’s now believed to be value tens of billions of {dollars} and stays below the direct management of the Iranian supreme chief.

Setad and Mokhber have been sanctioned by the US in 2021, with the US Treasury claiming the organisation was concerned in rights violations amongst different issues, together with violating “the rights of dissidents by confiscating land and property from opponents of the regime”.

Mokhber was the top of Setad through the onset of COVID-19, at a time when Iran was hit by far the worst by the pandemic within the Center East. Almost 150,000 individuals died of COVID, in line with official numbers – with precise numbers believed to be a lot greater.

Beneath his watch, Setad developed COVIran Barekat, the principle coronavirus vaccine manufactured by the state.

Adolescence

Born in Dezful within the southwestern province of Khuzestan, the 68-year-old was educated in electrical engineering and likewise holds a PhD in worldwide regulation.

He was energetic in banking and communications earlier in his profession, having operated as the top of the Khuzestan Telecommunications Authority after which being promoted to deputy governor of the province within the Nineties.

Earlier than shifting as much as the Setad, Mokhber was a deputy at one other bonyad, the highly effective Mostazafan Basis which was additionally based by Supreme Chief Khomeini as a charitable basis.