President Ebrahim Raisi died on Monday when his helicopter crashed into a foggy mountain, causing a period of political unrest in the Islamic republic. Iranians expressed their sorrow for his passing on Monday.
The plane crashed on Sunday in a remote region of northwest Iran, killing Raisi, 63, his foreign minister, and seven other people. The wreckage wasn’t discovered until Monday morning.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, announced a five-day mourning period and that vice president Muhammad Mokhber, 68, would serve as acting president until elections are held in 50 days.
“The Iranian nation has lost a sincere and valuable servant,” declared the 85-year-old Khamenei, who many observers had predicted Raisi would eventually replace.
Thousands of mourners gathered in Valiasr Square in central Tehran to honour Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Tuesday’s funeral ceremonies for them and the other victims—three crew members, two bodyguards, an imam, and a provincial governor—were scheduled to begin in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan province. After that, Raisi’s body was to be transported to Tehran. Iranian authorities first raised the alarm on Sunday afternoon when they lost contact with Raisi’s helicopter as it returned from a border meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to inaugurate a dam.
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