The Iranian leadership has pledged that the work of state authorities will continue without disruption, following the deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi and several other senior figures in a helicopter crash.
The aircraft carrying Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and several others, went down on Sunday in a mountainous region of northwest Iran. After more than ten hours of searching – hampered by fog and rain – the president was confirmed dead.
In a message posted by Mehr News agency on Telegram, the Iranian Cabinet of Ministers described Raisi as “the hardworking and tireless President of the Iranian people, who did nothing but serve the great people of Iran towards the development and progress of the country, kept his promise, and sacrificed his life for the sake of the nation.”
The statement vowed that there would not be “the slightest disruption” in the running of the country. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced that First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will serve as acting president for 50 days, until an election is held.
The late head of state had traveled to the border region after joining Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday to inaugurate a dam. Raisi had pledged to visit each of Iran’s 30 provinces at least once a year, and regularly traveled around the country.
Reports of a “crash landing” began circulating on Sunday afternoon, with Iranian state media citing Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi. IRNA news agency reported dense fog in the mountainous area where the aircraft went down.
Raisi was traveling in a US-made Bell 212. Low visibility and the impassibility of the area made search operations difficult, IRNA wrote.
Rescue teams finally managed to locate the crash site on Monday morning with the help of Turkish surveillance drones.
The wreckage was discovered in a wooded area on a mountain slope. The aircraft was severely damaged and charred, and there were no signs of survivors, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said.