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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Archie Bland

Tuesday briefing: What the death of Ebrahim Raisi means for Iran’s political future

A newspaper with a picture of the late Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi is seen in Tehran, Iran May 20, 2024.
A newspaper with a picture of the late Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi is seen in Tehran, Iran May 20, 2024. Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

Good morning. The death of a president is always an enormously consequential moment – but in Iran, where five days of mourning are under way after Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, the exact nature of those consequences is difficult to parse.

Raisi had been described as a likely successor to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei – but also as a figure of limited influence, often by the same analysts. His passing has led some to suggest that nothing will change at all, and others to say that, with a presidential election now due within 50 days, this could be a turning point.

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