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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi killed in helicopter crash
- Supreme Leader Khamenei declares five days mourning after Ebrahim Raisi’s death
- Iranian president’s helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region on Sunday
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border, officials and state media said on Monday.
The charred wreckage of the helicopter which crashed on Sunday carrying Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six other passengers and crew was found early on Monday after an overnight search in blizzard conditions.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power with a final say on foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear programme, said First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber, would take over as interim president, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri was appointed as acting foreign minister.
“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” Khamenei said in a statement. Mokhber, like Raisi, is seen as close to Khamenei.
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