Interior minister: President's death will be 'easily' handled

Two unnamed sources told Reuters that Raisi was removed from the Assembly of Experts' list of potential successors six months ago due to his declining popularity amid Iran's economic crisis. The country's soaring inflation rate and the freefall of the national currency, the rial, reportedly contributed to his removal.

The Supreme Leader is appointed by an 88-member Assembly of Experts.

One insider, however, told Reuters that influential pro-Raisi clerics had launched a vigorous campaign to reinstate his name.

According to Iran experts, Ebrahim Raisi, the Assembly's former deputy chairman, was the most likely candidate for the post of chairman, which could have significantly influenced his selection of the Supreme Leader.

Shaghayegh Mohammadi, the wife of Esteghlal FC player Mohammad Hossein Moradmand, reported receiving a call and threat from authorities after posting a poem on Instagram, implicitly celebrating Raisi’s death.

The poem, written by prominent 14th-century poet Hafez, read "Let us rejoice that the cruel battle is ending."

In another story, Mohammadi wrote "I have no wish for anything except freedom, which belongs to all human beings."

The election occurred during the inaugural ceremony of the assembly's sixth term, attended by 83 members, 55 of whom voted for Kermani, signaling a clear continuity of hardline governance.

Known for his role as Tehran’s Friday Prayer Ephemeral Imam and former secretary-general of the Combatant Clergy Association, he succeeds Ahmad Jannati, a centenarian cleric.

The election for the body which appoints the supreme leader comes at a critical juncture as 84-year-old Ali Khamenei's health prompts speculations about his succession.

With the sudden death of Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on Sunday, the role of the Assembly of Experts, responsible for selecting the next Supreme Leader, gains critical importance as Raisi was viewed by many as a likely successor.

However, the integrity of the electoral process is under scrutiny due to recent electoral manipulations that saw a sharp reduction in candidate eligibility.

In a move that has raised eyebrows internationally, key political figures with potentially sensitive insider information were barred from running. Former President Hassan Rouhani and three former intelligence ministers, Ali Fallahian, Haider Moslehi, and Mahmoud Alavi were disqualified.

Such exclusions by the Guardian Council, which also disqualified 366 out of 510 clerical candidates, have sparked accusations of engineered election outcomes aimed at ensuring a hardliner succession that could further tighten the ideological grip on Iran.

Critics argue that such actions depict a regime fearful of any potential dissent or deviation from the supreme doctrinal line, especially at a time when public discontent is simmering over the economic crisis and brutal social restrictions.

Funeral ceremonies for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi commenced this morning in Tabriz, East Azarbaijan province. Their bodies will be flown later in the day to the central Iranian city of Qom, home to one of the revered shrines and religious seminaries where Raisi studied.

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Following the second funeral in Qom, they will be brought to the capital Tehran, where Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is expected to lead congregational funeral prayers for them. The Grand Mosalla Mosque in Tehran will host a "farewell" ceremony on Tuesday night.

On Thursday, according to the itinerary, Raisi will be taken to his hometown of Mashhad for burial at the revered shrine of Imam Reza. There will be another ceremony in Birjand in South Khorasan province before Raisi is laid to rest in Mashhad.

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Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has declared five days of national mourning following the president's death.

A national holiday has also been declared for Wednesday.

In a brief statement delivered by the State Department’s spokesman Matthew Miller Monday afternoon, the US government expressed “official condolences” for Raisi’s death alongside his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran on Sunday, was all but crowned President in an unfair and unfree election three years ago. Before that, he spent the entirety of his political life in the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, starting as a local prosecutor and making his way up to the top with absolute loyalty to the regime –and crucially, signing off thousands of summary executions in 1988.

Following his death –confirmed officially Monday– many Iranians let out their contentment despite threats of arrest and punishment by the authorities. The Biden administration, however, chose to go down the “diplomatic” path, while acknowledging that Raisi was not just any President.

“No question this was a man who had a lot of blood on his hands,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday afternoon. “That said, as we would in any other case, we certainly regret in general the loss of life, and offered official condolences as appropriate.”

The “appropriate” measure angered US lawmakers and Iranian-American activists.

“I think it is disappointing for the Biden administration expressing condolences for the man who’s known as the Butcher of Tehran,” Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) told Fox News. “The people of Iran are probably pretty pleased that the Butcher of Tehran is no longer there to torment them.”

Senator Cotton’s description seems to be accurate, as far as it can be gauged from Iranians’ expressions of jubilation in public. The US condolences, therefore, was seen as a blow by many activists, and yet another sign that the Biden administration did not care enough about their wishes and desires. This was accentuated by the images from the UN Security Council, where representatives, including the US deputy ambassador, stood in silence for a minute to mark Raisi’s death.

“When I saw one minute of silence at the United Nations… it was a slap on the face of Iranian women who got killed simply for showing their hair,” Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad told ABC News. “It’s a slap on the face of men getting executed simply for protesting.”

The US government and the UN Security Council were not the only major institutions to draw harsh criticism for their diplomatic approach. The EU Commission and NATO, among others, were also lambasted when their top officials or spokespeople expressed sympathy with “the people of Iran,” misjudging –if not ignoring– the public mood in the country.

“I am flabbergasted by this tweet,” former NATO Assistant Secretary General Marshall S. Billingslea posted on X, quoting the NATO spokeswoman's post offering condolences for the death of Iran’s president and foreign minister. “This is completely inappropriate on so many levels,” Billingslea wrote.

The controversy is likely to continue at least until Wednesday when the official ceremony and funeral is planned to be held in Iran. Speculations have already started about foreign representatives that may attend. So much so that reporters asked Kirby about the US position and the possibility of the Biden administration sending a “delegation” to the ceremony.

“I don’t have anything on a delegation for a funeral to speak to today,” Kirby said, deciding not to offer a clear response, even though any US representation in an Iranian official ceremony seems highly unlikely.