According to state media reports, the President of Iran has passed away in a helicopter crash.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, along with the country's foreign minister and other officials, has died in a helicopter crash, Iranian state media announced on Monday.
Following the announcement of Raisi's death, the Iranian government convened an emergency meeting. Subsequently, Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, appointed First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as the acting president and declared five days of national mourning.
The crash has left Iran without two key diplomatic figures amid heightened regional tensions due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Iranian state media reported the deaths of President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan province, and other officials who were aboard the helicopter. The crash occurred in foggy conditions in a mountainous area in northern Iran as they returned from an event near Iran's border with Azerbaijan. Images of the wreckage were released, but no immediate cause for the crash was provided.
International reactions swiftly followed, with Pakistan announcing a day of mourning and Russian President Vladimir Putin sending condolences to Khamenei.
Rescue teams, including drones and dogs, were dispatched to the crash site. The Iranian military also assisted in the rescue efforts, and video footage of the operation was shared by Fars News Agency.
Ebrahim Raisi, a former cleric and judge, was elected president in 2021. He was seen as a hard-liner compared to his predecessor, Hassan Rouhani. Raisi had vowed to uphold Iran's nuclear deal with the U.S. despite former President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the agreement in 2018. Recently, Raisi had supported Iran's retaliatory attacks on Israel following an airstrike in Damascus.
According to Iran's constitution, in the event of a president's death while in office, the first vice president assumes the role with the supreme leader's approval, and a new election must be held within 50 days.
