Reuters: Ebrahim Raisi Was Struck Off the List of Successors to Ali Khamenei Six Months Ago

Reuters reported that the Assembly of Experts had removed Ebrahim Raisi from the list of potential candidates to succeed Ali Khamenei six months ago. This news was published on Tuesday, May 21, citing two sources close to the matter. The report titled 'Raisi's Death Could Intensify Competition for Khamenei's Succession' states: 'Two sources close to the matter said that the Assembly of Experts struck Raisi off the list of potential successors to Khamenei about six months ago due to his declining popularity, the poor economic situation resulting from U.S. sanctions, and mismanagement.' One of these sources mentioned that there was a strong lobbying effort by influential clerics and Raisi's supporters to reinstate him on this list. The Assembly of Experts consists of 88 representatives elected from a list approved by the Guardian Council, and its main duty is to elect the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Ali Vaez, the Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group, told Reuters: 'No one except a handful at the top hierarchy probably knows how much the narrative of Raisi being a contender for succession is rooted in reality.' He added: 'But if this plan existed, Raisi's death would create significant ambiguity in the succession.' Alex Vatank, the Iran Program Director at the Middle East Institute in Washington, also stated that many believed Khamenei's role in promoting Raisi was a sign that he wanted him to be his successor. He remarked that Raisi's death 'could lead to internal conflicts within the regime, unlike what we saw in the early 1980s.' The sixth term of the Assembly of Experts is set to open today (Tuesday), having lost two of its members before the inauguration. Ebrahim Raisi and Mohammad Ali Al-Haashim, the Friday prayer leader of Tabriz, were two members of the sixth term of the Assembly of Experts who were killed in a helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan on May 21. In the absence of Ahmad Jannati, Hassan Rouhani, and Sadeq Larijani, Raisi had the best chance of becoming the head of this Assembly. Ahmad Jannati did not run for this term of the Assembly of Experts. Sadeq Amoli Larijani failed to secure the necessary votes to enter it, and Hassan Rouhani was disqualified by the Guardian Council. Iranian media reports indicate that the main competition for the presidency of this Assembly is currently between Mohammad Reza Modarresi Yazdi, Hashem Hosseini Bushehri, and Ali Mohammadi Kermani. Given Ali Khamenei's advanced age, currently 85, it is expected that the members of the sixth term of the Assembly of Experts will have the important task of determining the next leader of the Islamic Republic.