Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared five days of national mourning on Monday following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” Khamenei stated in an official announcement, one day after the crash in East Azerbaijan province that claimed the lives of Raisi and other officials.
President Raisi died on Monday when his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country.
He was traveling with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who also perished in the accident.
Rescue teams had been searching the area since Sunday afternoon after the helicopter carrying Raisi, the foreign minister, and other officials went missing. Early Monday, relief workers located the wreckage, and state TV confirmed the president’s death.
“The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said Monday, with Mehr news agency also saying he was dead.
State television broadcast photos of President Raisi, accompanied by the recitation of the Koran in the background.
Iran’s Vice President for Executive Affairs, Mohsen Mansouri, posted a Koranic verse on X to express his condolences.
