Presidential poll will determine Iranian policy going forward

Iran interred its late President Ebrahim Raisi at the holiest Shiite shrine in the nation on Thursday, days after a fatal helicopter crash killed him, the country’s foreign minister, and six others.

Raisi was placed inside a tomb at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, where Shiite Islam’s eighth imam is buried.

The death of the president and the foreign minister comes at a politically sensitive moment for Iran, both at home and abroad.

There is growing dissent within the country over a range of political, social, and economic issues. And it's clerical rulers are facing increasing international pressure over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

As the five days of official mourning near their end, interim President Mohammad Mokhber vowed Raisi's death would not interrupt government operations.

Foad Izadi, a professor of international relations at Tehran University, believes what happens next with Iran's domestic and international policies, depends on the results of presidential elections due to take place on 28 June.

"We have some candidates that belong to the reformist camp. If they win the presidency, then I think they would want to go back to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal] and resolve some of the difficulties Iran has had with Western governments,” he said. 

"In terms of domestic policies, there are differences among different political parties on how to manage the economy, what to do with inflation, other issues. And so we just have to wait and see who becomes president in the next 50 days or so," he said.

Iranian state media reported that candidates are to be registered from 30 May to 3 June. Recent elections in Iran have been marked by the exclusion by the oversight body of moderate and pro-reform rivals.