Iran’s President Raisi killed in a tragic helicopter crash

• The crash occurred in poor weather, with the wreckage found early Monday.
• The crash occurred on Sunday, with the announcement of First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as the interim president.
• The deceased included the governor of East Azerbaijan Province and a senior imam from Tabriz city.

Officials and state media reported that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner considered a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died when his helicopter crashed in poor weather near the Azerbaijan border on Monday.

Search teams found the charred wreckage of the helicopter carrying President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and six other passengers and crew early Monday after searching overnight in blizzard conditions. The helicopter had crashed on Sunday.

The official IRNA news agency reported that Supreme Leader Khamenei, who holds ultimate power and final authority over foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear program, announced that First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber would assume the role of interim president.

“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” Khamenei said in a statement. Observers see Mokhber, like Raisi, as being close to Khamenei.

The Islamic Republic’s constitution mandates a new presidential election within 50 days. Footage from Iranian state television showed wreckage scattered on a foggy hillside, while IRNA images depicted Red Crescent workers carrying a covered body on a stretcher. A senior Iranian official previously told the private news agency that the helicopter had killed all those aboard.

IRNA reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani was appointed as acting foreign minister following Amirabdollahian’s death. The crash occurs amid growing dissent in Iran over political, social, and economic crises. Iran’s clerical rulers face international pressure regarding Tehran’s disputed nuclear program and its increasing military ties with Russia during the war in Ukraine.

Since Hamas, an ally of Iran, attacked Israel on October 7, igniting Israel’s assault on Gaza, conflagrations involving Iran-aligned groups have erupted throughout the Middle East. Last month, the long-standing “shadow war” between Iran and Israel surfaced with tit-for-tat exchanges of drone and missile fire.

State media reported that images from the site showed the U.S.-made Bell 212 helicopter had slammed into a mountain peak, although officials have not yet determined the cause of the crash. The deceased included the governor of East Azerbaijan Province and a senior imam from Tabriz city. An Israeli official, requesting anonymity, told the news agency that Israel was not involved in the crash, stating, “It wasn’t us.”

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