Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed dead in a helicopter crash.
The chopper, which also had Hossein Amirabdollahian, foreign minister; Malek Rahmati, governor of East Azarbaijan province; and Hojjatoleslam Al Hashem, Tabriz Friday prayer leader onboard, crash-landed Sunday afternoon in the Varzaqan region.
Search and rescue teams scoured the mountainous terrain amid heavy fog overnight, and found the wreckage early Monday.
Raisi, 63, was elected president on his second attempt in 2021.
He was regarded as a potential successor to Ayatollah Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader who has held the position since 1989.
In 2019, Khamenei appointed Raisi as head of the judiciary.
Raisi was also deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts — the 88-member clerical body responsible for electing the next supreme leader.
State media reports that the Iranian government held an emergency meeting after the president and some members of the cabinet were confirmed dead on Monday.
Vice President Mohammad Mokhber led the emergency meeting.
Voice Air Media, VAM News Update
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained that some candidates were omitted from the…
THE Osun State Chapter of the Accord has congratulated Governor Ademola Adeleke on his appointment…
THE Osun State Police Command has arrested six suspected cultists during raids on criminal hideouts…
Shell Petroleum B.V. has announced the sale of its full interest in Shell Nigeria Gas…
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dismissed concerns that the Rainbow…
Hon. Tajudeen Adefisoye, popularly known as Small Alhaji and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate…