Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a prominent hardliner and potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died in a helicopter crash near the Azerbaijan border, officials and state media reported on Monday.
The crash, which occurred on Sunday, also claimed the lives of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six other passengers and crew members. The charred wreckage was discovered early Monday after a challenging overnight search in blizzard conditions.
Supreme Leader Khamenei announced that First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber would serve as interim president, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Under the Islamic Republic's constitution, a new presidential election must be held within 50 days.
Iranian state television showed footage of the wreckage scattered on a foggy hillside, and images from IRNA depicted Red Crescent workers carrying a covered body on a stretcher. All passengers aboard the helicopter were killed, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
Following the death of Amirabdollahian, Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani was named acting foreign minister, IRNA reported. The crash comes amid growing dissent in Iran over various political, social, and economic issues.
Iran's clerical leaders face international pressure over the country's disputed nuclear program and its increasing military cooperation with Russia amid the Ukraine war.
Since Iran's ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, sparking Israel's assault on Gaza, tensions involving Iran-aligned groups have intensified across the Middle East. A long-standing "shadow war" between Iran and Israel escalated last month with exchanges of drone and missile fire.
State media indicated that the U.S.-made Bell 212 helicopter crashed into a mountain peak, though the official cause of the crash has not been confirmed. Among the dead were the governor of East Azerbaijan Province and a senior imam from Tabriz city.
An Israeli official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, stated that Israel was not involved in the crash. "It wasn't us," the official said.
NBC
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