Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian were among the nine people who died when their helicopter crashed in the mountainous region of the country’s northwest during bad weather, state media reported on Monday.
Iranian media also reported that the Iranian Cabinet held a second emergency meeting less than 24 hours after the deaths were confirmed.
Vice President Muhammad Mukhber chaired a meeting on Sunday evening after the helicopter disappeared over East Azerbaijan province. All nine people on board died.
According to the protocol, with the death of Raisi, Mokhbar should become interim president, pending the approval of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. New elections must then be held within 50 days.
On Monday morning, the Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) published photos taken by a drone showing charred wreckage of an aircraft on a steep slope in the middle of the forest.
Raisi and Amir Abdullahyan were returning from a meeting with the President of neighboring Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, when their helicopter disappeared from radar in heavy fog on Sunday afternoon. The Iranians helped inaugurate a dam in Azerbaijan that was built jointly by the two sides.
The entourage then returned to Iran on board three helicopters. But while the other two helicopters arrived safely, the president never returned.
