Iran to hold snap presidential election on June 28

The official IRNA news agency said in a late Monday report that June 28 had been agreed as the date for Iran’s snap presidential elections during a meeting in Presidency Office in Tehran.

The meeting featured Iran’s Head of the Executive Branch Mohammad Mokhber, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i.

The session was a second between the three within hours from President Raeisi’s martyrdom in the helicopter crash incident in East Azerbaijan province.

Article 131 of the Iranian Constitution requires the top three officials of the country to make arrangements for holding presidential elections within a maximum of 50 days from the day on which an incumbent president dies in office or is incapacitated.

The Monday meeting was also attended by the Iranian deputy president for legal affairs Mohammad Dehghan, deputy chairman of the Guardian Council Siamak Rahpeykand and deputy interior minister for political affairs Mohammad Taghi Shahcheraghi.

A timetable was also announced for the elections under which hopefuls will be able to register from May 30 to June 3 while candidates will launch 15 days of campaigns starting June 12.

The helicopter carrying Raisi and his entourage crashed around afternoon on Sunday as it was on its way to Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan, from a location on the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan where the Iranian president had opened a major dam project.

Rescuers found the wreckage of the helicopter early on Monday after hours of extensive search which involved more than 70 teams.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and two senior provincial officials along with crew members and bodyguards also died as a result of the crash.