
By Parisa Hafezi
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi‘s death in a helicopter crash upsets the plans of hardliners who wanted him to succeed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and will stir rivalries in their camp over who will take over the Islamic Republic when he dies.
A protege of Khamenei who rose through the ranks of Iran’s theocracy, Raisi, 63, was widely seen as a leading candidate to take over from the 85-year-old Supreme Leader – though it was far from being a foregone conclusion in Iran’s opaque politics.
His rise to the presidency was part of a consolidation of power in the hands of hardliners dedicated to shoring up the pillars of the Islamic Republic against the risks posed by dissent at home and powerful…