Mohammad Mokhber | |
---|---|
محمد مخبر | |
Acting President of Iran | |
Assumed office 19 May 2024 | |
Supreme Leader | Ali Khamenei |
Preceded by | Ebrahim Raisi |
7th First Vice President of Iran | |
Assumed office 8 August 2021 | |
President | Ebrahim Raisi himself (acting) |
Preceded by | Eshaq Jahangiri |
Member of Expediency Discernment Council | |
Assumed office 20 September 2022 | |
Appointed by | Ali Khamenei |
Chairman | Sadeq Larijani |
Head of the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order | |
In office 15 July 2007 – 7 December 2021 | |
Appointed by | Ali Khamenei |
Preceded by | Mohammad Javad Iravani |
Succeeded by | Aref Norouzi (acting) Parviz Fattah |
Personal details | |
Born | Dezful, Khuzestan, Imperial State of Iran | 1 September 1955
Political party | Independent |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Iran |
Branch/service | Revolutionary Guards |
Years of service | 1980-1988 |
Unit | Medical Corps |
Battles/wars | Iran–Iraq War |
Mohammad Mokhber[a][b] (born 1 September 1955)[1] is an Iranian politician who has been serving as the acting president of Iran since the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in the Varzaqan helicopter crash on 19 May 2024. Before he was elevated to the role of acting president, Mokhber held the position of First Vice President of Iran. He has also been a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, the head of the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order committee (EIKO), chairman of the Sina Bank board, and deputy governor of Khuzestan Province.
As the former first vice president, and with the approval of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Mokhber assumed "the powers and functions of the President" as the temporary acting President of Iran, upon the death of his predecessor, in accordance with the Constitution of Iran. A Temporary Presidential Council must then be formed (consisting of the Acting President, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Head of Judiciary), which council is to then organize a new election within 50 days.[2]
Mohammad Mokhber was born in Dezful,[3] Iran, on 1 September 1955[1] to a clerical family.[4] He possesses two doctoral degrees, including a doctorate academic paper (and an MA) in international law; he also has a doctorate degree in management.[5] He also holds an MA in management.[6]
He was as an officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's medical corps during the Iran–Iraq War. In the 1990s, Mokhber was the CEO of Dezful Telecommunications in his hometown, then deputy governor of Khuzestan Province. From the 2000s he was the chairman of Sina Bank for about ten years. He became a senior official of the Mostazafan Foundation before becoming head of the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO) in 2007.[7][8]
On 8 August 2021, President Ebrahim Raisi appointed Mokhber the first vice president of Iran,[3] the seventh person to hold the office.[3] In October 2022, he was sent to Moscow along with senior IRGC officials and a Supreme National Security Council official to finalize an agreement to send Shahed drones and surface-to-surface missiles to Russia to support its invasion of Ukraine.[9]
Main article: Government of Mohammad Mokhber (2024–present) |
On 19 May 2024, after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, Mokhber assumed the role of Acting President of Iran,[10] and was confirmed in his position by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 20 May, until new presidential elections are held.[11] Mokhber attended Raisi's funeral in Tehran on 22 May.[12] He oversaw a scheduled cabinet meeting, in which he announced about the crash at the end of the meeting, according to the government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi.[13]
As president, Mokhber made his first public address on 27 May at the meeting of the new Islamic Consultative Assembly which was convened following the 2024 Iranian legislative election, during which he praised Raisi's presidency.[14]
In July 2010, the European Union included Mokhber, then the president of EIKO, in a list of persons and entities it was sanctioning for alleged involvement in the issue of "nuclear or ballistic missiles activities." In 2012, Mokhber was removed from the list.[15] In 2021, Mokhber was sanctioned by the United States over EIKO's role in violating “the rights of dissidents by confiscating land and property from opponents of the regime” and other human rights abuses.[8]