Iran to conduct presidential elections on June 28

Tehran: Iran's government declared that the country's 14th presidential election to be conducted on June 28, following the demise of incumbent President Ebrahim Raisi, IANS reported.

A meeting was conducted, which was attended by Iran's First Vice President Mohammed Mokhber, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and the meeting decided the election date. The meeting was also attended by Vice-President for Legal Affairs Mohammad Dehqan and representatives of the Iranian Constitutional Council and Interior Ministry, Iran state media reported.

Vice President Mokhber now assumes the presidency.

On Sunday, a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and some members of his accompanying team, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, crashed at mountainous terrain near Varzaqan County, about 670 km from Tehran. On Monday morning, the President, the Foreign Minister and others were confirmed dead after the helicopter wreckage was found.

Xinhua news agency reported that Article 131 of the Iranian Constitution directs that the first Vice-President will take the helm of the executive branch if the President is unable to perform duties. Also, the interim President is duty-bound to make arrangements for the election of a new President within a maximum of 50 days.

IRNA reported that during the top-level meeting, the participants reached an agreement on scheduling the election processes, such as the formation of executive delegations, the registration of candidates and the launch of electoral campaigns. As per the schedule, the registration of candidates would start from May 30 to June 3, and they could conduct electoral campaigns from June 12 to 27.

The Constitutional Council has initially consented to the schedule, IRNA reported.