Iran's interim president, Mohammad Mokhber, spoke in the Iranian Parliament on Monday praising the missile and drone strike on Israel last April and claiming the Iranian economy emerged unscathed. This was Mokhber's first public address since he assumed the role after President Ebrahim Raisi was killed along with foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials in a helicopter crash last week. He will serve until a new president is elected at the end of June.
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Acting president Mokhber giving a speech to Iranian Parliament
(Photo: Vahid Salemi / AP)
In his speech, Mokhber emphasized the resilience of Iran's economy under Raisi's leadership, despite military operations targeting Iraq, Pakistan, and more recently, Israel. "We struck three countries. We attacked Israel, and the next morning, the numbers and indices held steady. The value of our currency remained unchanged, inflation stayed flat, liquidity was stable, and our markets were fully stocked," Mokhber said. "This is no ordinary feat. It was made possible by the guidance of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the dedicated efforts of Ayatollah Raisi."
Raisi, elected in 2021, was meant to serve until next summer. However, with his untimely death, presidential elections are now set for June 28. Starting Thursday, a five-day registration period will open for potential candidates. But not everyone meeting the basic criteria will be allowed to run; the regime's top echelon, led Khamenei, will vet the candidates, likely disqualifying some to favor their preferred choice. Analysts speculate that Mokhber might be among the contenders.
At 68, the somewhat obscure former vice president is considered a close ally of the Ayatollah, much like Raisi. According to a Reuters report, he was part of an Iranian delegation to Moscow last October, where they agreed to supply Russia with additional surface-to-surface missiles and drones for the Ukraine conflict.
Mokhber became Raisi's deputy in 2021 and previously led the Iranian investment fund "Setad," which operates under Khamenei's direct control. This fund manages assets "abandoned" during the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is under American sanctions. The U.S. values its assets in the billions, providing Khamenei with significant influence across various sectors of Iran's economy.