Iran president, top diplomat found dead after helicopter crash

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other officials were found dead Monday after their helicopter crashed in a foggy region, state media reported.

State television did not provide an immediate cause for the crash, which spurred an hours-long search for the officials’ bodies.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber would succeed Raisi as acting president. Khamenei also declared five days of mourning in the country in response to the crash.

Raisi, a hard-line conservative, was seen as Khamenei’s protegee and was his chief policy enforcer.

Raisi oversaw a brutal crackdown on protests in recent years, following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had been detained over her allegedly loose headscarf, or hijab. More than 500 people were killed in the crackdown, many of whom were fighting against what they saw as economic and social injustices.

During his term as president, Raisi also oversaw Iran’s enrichment of uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Iran also supplied bomb-carrying drones to Russia, as Moscow waged war in Ukraine and aided military groups in the region.

Raisi’s presidency has also been marked by his country’s shadow war with Israel in the Middle East, which reached its highest tension point when Raisi helped carry out a direct strike against Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza.

His death was mourned by authoritarian leaders and militant groups in the region, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Syrian President Bashar Assad, as well as members of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban.

The Associated Press contributed.