After Raisi funeral, lran’s focus urns to vote for his successor

Hopefuls in June 28 polls to be vetted by council dominated by conservatives

After Iran's mourning of President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, the nation's focus has turned to an election in June for his successor, with the conservative camp seeking a loyalist to its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The lead-up to the vote on June 28 has opened up the field to a broad range of hopefuls. The big question now is how many of them will have their candidacies approved by the Guardian Council, a vetting body dominated by conservatives.

Ultraconservative Raisi, who had more than a year left of his first term, died on May 19 alongside his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six others when their helicopter crashed into a fogshrouded mountainside.

They were laid to rest after multi-day funeral rites drawing mass crowds of mourners.

The vote in June will be held during a turbulent time, as the Gaza war rages between Iran's arch-foe Israel and Tehran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas, and amid continued diplomatic tensions over Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran also faces sustained economic hardship, exacerbated by tough sanctions reimposed by the United States after it withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Mr Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, has assigned Mr Raisi's vice-president, Mr Mohammad Mokhber, 68, to assume interim duties for the next few weeks and organise the June election.