What Will Change in Iran After Raisi's Death? One Ex-CIA Official Weighs in.

Leah Barkoukis | May 21, 2024 8:30 AM

What will Iran look like with Ebrahim Raisi out of the picture? According to a former CIA official, it’s unlikely much will change after his death in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

"I think we're going to see the continuation of the general contours of Iranian foreign policy, meaning domestic repression, carrying on support to Hamas, and their so-called axis of resistance against Israel and the United States and then fortifying their relationship, their alliance with this new axis of tyranny – Russia, China and North Korea," Dan Hoffman said Monday on "Fox & Friends."

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has since appointed Vice President Mohammad Mokhber to serve as interim president, but the retired CIA official said he “fully expect[s] that domestic repression, including of women…will continue.”

"Also, I think that a new president, when one is chosen, will fall in line with the supreme leader's wishes,” he added.

Since 2021, Mokhber has served as Raisi’s top deputy. He is the most senior of Iran’s 12 vice presidents.
Mokhber has close ties with Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader; in 2007, Khamenei handpicked Mokhber to be the chief executive of Setad, a multibillion-dollar financial empire controlled exclusively by Khamenei. Many of Setad’s assets derive from property seized from Iranian citizens, a 2013 Reuters investigation revealed. […]
Mokhber has been sanctioned by the United States and its allies. In 2010, the European Union sanctioned him and seven other Iranians for being “involved in nuclear or ballistic missiles activities,” although he was removed from the sanctions list two years later. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Mokhber in 2021 for his financial role in what it called Iran’s “systemic corruption and mismanagement.” Six months after the U.S. penalty, Mokhber assumed office as Iran’s top vice president. (The Washington Post)