The death of Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash on Sunday afternoon, has created a dramatic and unexpected moment of uncertainty in Iran but little, in the short term, is likely to change.

As Iran’s President from 2021, he was the second most powerful man in the Islamic Republic, answering only to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Expect huge public displays of mourning and tribute in the coming days, as the regime attempts to control this untimely and destabilising event with the world watching closely for any crack.

Raisi was a divisive leader, becoming President at his second attempt. His candidacy was carefully choreographed, with reformists and rival conservatives side-lined.

His legacy though, after only a few years in office, will be rampant inflation, high unemployment and an uncompromising and often violent suppression of protests, which Raisi ordered when demonstrators took to the streets after the killing of Mahsa Amini in 2022.

Raisi was an ultra-conservative cleric, whose reputation was founded in the judiciary and the “Death Committee” in the late 80s when he sat on a........

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