Iran declares five days of national mourning, set to hold presidential polls in 50 days to find replacement for late Raisi

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced five days of mourning following the death of the country’s President, Ebrahim Raisi.

Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area of north-western Iran, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

State media confirmed they were killed after the helicopter they were travelling in came down on Sunday, reported the BBC.

Ayatollah Khamenei said he offered his condolences “to the dear people of Iran”.

Raisi, 63, had been tipped as a potential successor to the supreme leader.

Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber has been appointed to assume interim duties after the death of the president.

Mokhber would work with the heads of Iran’s legislature and judiciary to prepare for a presidential election within 50 days – a period of time set out in Iran’s constitution for replacing a president who dies in office.

Iran’s cabinet has also appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani as acting foreign Minister.

It was initially reported that the helicopter carrying the men and their entourage had made a hard landing in foggy conditions.

The area where the aircraft came down is close to the border with Azerbaijan, where Raisi had been meeting President Ilham Aliyev.

According to local media he was there to open the Qiz Qalasi and Khodaafarin dams.

On Monday, the Iranian Red Crescent confirmed the bodies of the President and others who died in the crash had been recovered and search operations had ended.

“We are in the process of transferring the bodies of the martyrs to Tabriz [in Iran’s north-west],” the organisation’s chief said on state TV.

Iranian news outlet Tasnim, which is affiliated to the country’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, reported that President Ebrahim Raisi’s funeral will be held on Tuesday in Tabriz.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a national day of mourning and described Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian as “good friends of Iran”.

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