Who is Mohammad Mokhber, Iran's interim president?

The 68 year old is seen as close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, right, leads a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Monday with a photo of late President Ebrahim Raisi placed in front of the seat next to him. AFP

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, was announced as interim president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

Mr Mokhber will organise a presidential election in the next 50 days.

Early on Monday, Iranian authorities confirmed the death of Mr Raisi, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, in the crash in north-west Iran.

“Ayatollah Raisi, the beloved President of our country, was martyred in a helicopter crash in the Varzghan region of East Azerbaijan and joined the Supreme Kingdom,” the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said.

Here are some key facts about Mr Mokhber, 68.

Who is Mohammad Mokhber?

Born on September 1, 1955, Mr Mokhber, like Mr Raisi was, is seen as close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say in all matters of state.

Mr Mokhber became First Vice President in 2021, when Mr Raisi was elected president.

He was part of a team of Iranian officials who visited Moscow in October and agreed to supply surface-to-surface missiles and more drones to Russia's military, Reuters reported at the time.

The team also included two senior officials from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and an official from the Supreme National Security Council.

He had previously been head of Setad, an investment fund linked to the supreme leader. The fund's full name is Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam, or the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam.

It was set up under an order issued by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Mr Khamenei's predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

It ordered aides to sell and manage properties supposedly abandoned in the chaotic years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and channel the bulk of the proceeds to charity.

In 2010, the EU included Mr Mokhber on a list of individuals and entities it was sanctioning for alleged involvement in “nuclear or ballistic missile activities”.

Two years later, it removed him from the list.

Three years after that, the US Treasury Department added Setad and 37 companies it oversaw to a list of entities upon which Washington imposed sanctions.