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TEHRAN: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced five days of mourning following President Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash.
“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” said Khamenei in an official statement.
President Raisi, 63, had been tipped as a potential successor to the supreme leader.
President Raisi was killed along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash in a mountainous terrain in East Azerbaijan province.
After the demise of the Iranian President, Khamenei has appointed Vice President of Iran Mohammad Mokhber as acting president and has a maximum period of 50 days to hold elections, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.
READ MORE: Iranian President Raisi, Foreign Minister found dead in helicopter crash
President Raisi, the country’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and others have been found dead at the site of a helicopter crash Monday after an hourslong search through a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported.
“President Raisi, the foreign minister, and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” the senior Iranian official said. Raisi and his companions were returning from an event with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev when the crash happened.
The officials include Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, a Representative of the Iranian supreme leader in East Azerbaijan Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the Head of the presidential guard Mehdi Mousavi, the helicopter’s pilot, co-pilot, and crew.
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