The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has declared Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as the country’s acting president, effective immediately.
Khamenei also declared five days of national mourning to honour the victims of the helicopter crash which claimed the lives of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, among others, in northern Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
Naturenex reports that crash, which occurred on Sunday, claimed the lives of all nine people on board, including a provincial governor.
According to officials, new presidential elections will be held within 50 days, as stipulated by the Iranian constitution.
The international community has offered condolences, with world and regional leaders expressing their sorrow and shock at the sudden loss of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian.
Meanwhile an Israeli official on Monday said that Israel had no role in the helicopter crash.
“It wasn’t us,” the official told Reuters.
