Khamenei announced Monday that Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, would serve as the country’s acting president until elections are held.
In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024.
IRNA said the crash killed eight people in all, including three crew members, aboard the Bell helicopter, which Iran purchased in the early 2000s.
State TV gave no immediate cause for the crash that occurred in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
Footage released by IRNA early Monday showed what the agency described as the crash site, across a steep valley in a green mountain range.
Condolences started pouring in from neighbors and allies after Iran confirmed there were no survivors from the crash.
In 1981, a bomb blast killed President Mohammad Ali Rajai in the chaotic days after the country’s Islamic Revolution. »