The death in a helicopter crash of President Ebrahim Raisi, seen as a possible successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reshuffled the cards in the succession process and increased the spotlight on the Iranian No. 1's, son Mojtaba as a contender.
While analysts emphasize it is impossible to know for sure the intentions of Iran's leadership, Raisi's record as a pillar of the Islamic republic over several decades made him an inevitable candidate to become its third supreme leader after Khamenei and revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The supreme leader serves for life after being appointed by the Assembly of Experts body and has the final say on all key matters, including foreign policy. Khamenei, 85, has held the post since Khomeini's death in 1989.