Iran’s President Raisi killed in helicopter crash

Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi here.

Reaction to the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi continued to filter through on Monday.

Read more on the international reaction here.

A rescue team carries a body following a helicopter crash carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, in Varzaqan, Iran, on May 20.

Iran’s chief of staff of the Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri, has ordered an investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Tasnim news agency said. 

A high-ranking delegation, headed by a military commander and including technical experts, will go to the crash site in Eastern Azerbaijan, Tasnim said.

The helicopter crashed in a remote mountainous region in northwestern Iran on Sunday, killing Raisi, his foreign minister and seven others.

Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi waves after casting his ballot for presidential election, in Tehran, Iran, on June 18, 2021.

The upcoming, early election to replace Ebrahim Raisi as president could be a “watershed moment for Iran” if the country’s supreme leader allows a range of candidates to stand, a Middle East expert has told CNN.

“I would argue that the most consequential immediate impact of his death is who will come in his wake,” Mohammad Ali Shabani, the editor of Amwaj.media, told CNN’s Becky Anderson Monday.

“That election can be a watershed moment for Iran,” he said.

Shabani conceded that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “is more inclined towards conservative rule than to open up the political space.”

But he said Khamenei “has always emphasized voter turnout as a litmus test of the legitimacy of the system.”

Raisi became president of Iran in June 2021 after winning a historically uncompetitive presidential election. Many reform-minded Iranians had refused to take part in an election widely seen as a foregone conclusion, and turnout slumped below 50%.

Khamenei “has now… a golden opportunity to, in a face-saving way, reverse course” by allowing competitive elections and encouraging turnout, Shabani said.

The body of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the other victims of Sunday’s helicopter crash will be transferred on Tuesday from Tabriz to the northeastern city of Mashhad, where Raisi was born, according to Fars news. 

A large public ceremony is scheduled to take place at a prayer hall in Tabriz at 4 p.m. local time on Monday, Fars news reported. 

At 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday, a large procession will accompany the bodies of Raisi and the other victims from Tabriz Martyr’s Square to the city’s airport. From there, the bodies will be moved to Mashhad, according to Fars. 

Raisi was born in Mashhad in 1960. He ran the powerful charity known as Astan-e Quds-e Razavi, which manages the huge Imam Reza shrine, a major Islamic holy site in the city.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi at Saadabad Cultural & Historical Complex in Tehran, Iran, on April 29, 2023.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi was confirmed dead by state media on Monday morning, after a helicopter he was traveling in alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and seven others crashed in foggy conditions in the country’s remote northwest on Sunday.

Here’s what to know now:

Acting president: In the wake of Raisi’s death, Vice President Mohammad Mokhber has been appointed as acting president.

Acting foreign minister: Ali Bagheri Kani, who has led Iranian delegations through indirect negotiations with the United States over nuclear issues and prisoner exchanges, has been appointed acting foreign minister after the death of Amir-Abdollahian, state news agency IRNA reported.

New elections: The Iranian constitution mandates that the three heads of the branches of government, including the vice president, speaker of the parliament, and head of the judiciary, must arrange for an election and elect a new leader within 50 days of assuming the role of acting President. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a message to state news agencies that Mokhber was responsible for organizing elections for a new president within that time.

Public mourning: Ayatollah Khamenei has announced five days of public mourning after the crash, and expressed his condolences. All cultural and arts activities have been canceled in Iran for the next seven days.

Global reaction: The loss of Raisi — a conservative hardliner and protege of Ayatollah Khamenei — is expected to sow further uncertainty in a country already buckling under significant economic and political strain, with tensions with nearby Israel at a dangerous high. His death has already triggered international reaction with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India and the UAE leader expressing their condolences for his death. Lebanon has declared three days of mourning.

Militias respond: Iran-backed militant groups Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah have sent condolences to Tehran over the death of Raisi. 

All cultural and arts activities in Iran will be suspended for seven days following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, the Ministry of Culture announced on Monday.

Raisi died in a helicopter crash at age 63.

The country’s foreign minister and seven others were also killed after the crash in a remote, mountainous area of Iran’s northwest.

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber speaks during Iran's government cabinet in Tehran, Iran, on May 20.

Iran’s acting president Mohammad Mokhber held an “extraordinary meeting” on Monday with the heads of the legislative and judicial branches following the announcement of President Ebrahim Raisi’s death, according to Iranian state media. 

Mokhber spoke with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Hujjat al-Islam Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, the head of Iran’s Judiciary, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News. 

The three expressed their condolences and reaffirmed the three branches of government will continue its duties to the nation “without any interruption,” Tasnim reported.  

Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani leaves the Palais Coburg in Vienna, Austria, on August 4, 2022.

Ali Bagheri Kani, who has led Iranian delegations through indirect negotiations with the United States over nuclear issues and prisoner exchanges, has been appointed acting foreign minister after the death of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, state news agency IRNA reported.

Amir-Abdollahian was among the nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Iran’s remote northwestern mountainous region on Sunday, along with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced five days of public mourning after a helicopter crash killed President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister, and seven others. 

In a message carried by Iran’s state news agencies, Khamenei expressed his condolences over the deaths and confirmed Iran’s first Vice President Mohammad Mokhber is now managing the executive branch. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on December 7, 2023.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as an “outstanding politician” and said his death was an “irreparable loss,” according to a statement from the Kremlin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as “true, reliable friends of our country” and added that it was “deeply saddened” by their deaths.

The increasingly close relationship between Russia and Iran has become more evident since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Iran has provided Russia with Shahed drones that have been used to fire on Ukraine.

People pray for the well-being of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi following the crash of a helicopter carrying him, in Tehran, Iran, on May 19.

The spokesperson for Iran’s Guardian Council – a powerful 12-member council in charge of overseeing elections and legislation – has called the death of President Ebrahim Raisi “a great loss for the Iranian nation.”

Spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif said that while Iran is facing a tragedy with the death of its president, Iran’s constitution has foreseen the necessary measures for this situation.

Iranian constitution mandates that the three heads of the branches of government, including the vice president, speaker of the parliament, and head of the judiciary, must arrange for an election and elect a new leader within 50 days of assuming the role of acting President.

Meir Javedanfar walks near his home in Tel Aviv on April 21, 2006. 

It will “not be very difficult” to fill the gap after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s death, a Tel Aviv-based analyst told CNN.

“President Raisi was not a very successful president in terms of the economy,” Meir Javedanfar, director of Middle East Economic and Political Analysis Company, told CNN.

He added that Raisi “was not somebody with a background in security,” nor someone “with a background in Iran’s bureaucracy.”

CNN has confirmed the geolocation of the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the mountainous region of Varzeghan, near the village of Uzi, in Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province. 

Drone footage and images of the wreckage taken by the Iranian Red Crescent and shown on state media FARS News Agency showed the crash site on a steep, tree-covered hillside.

The accident occurred as Raisi and Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian were returning from a ceremony to open a dam on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, state news agency IRNA reported. Seven others in the chopper also died in the crash.

The crash site is around 38 miles (61 kilometers) from the dam site on the Iran-Azerbaijan border that the officials were visiting, with the exact location at 38.7189°, 46.6548°

It was first geolocated by Nathan Ruser, an analyst on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Cyber, Tech & Security team (ASPI CTS), which CNN later confirmed. 

The helicopter crashed while traveling to the city of Tabriz, Iran, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Najib Mikati speaks during a conference in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 13.

Lebanon has announced three days of mourning over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said.

Lebanon-based Hezbollah — one of the strongest paramilitary forces in the Middle East — is arguably Iran’s most powerful non-state partner.

This post has been updated to correct Najib Mikati’s title.

Iran-backed militant groups Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah have sent condolences to Tehran over the death of the country’s President Ebrahim Raisi. 

Raisi died in a helicopter crash together with his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday in the East Azerbaijan Province, northwest of Iran.

Hours after their deaths were confirmed, Houthi senior official Mohamed Ali Al-Houthi sent condolences.

The president of the government led by Yemen’s Houthis, Mahdi Al-Mashat, “sent a message of condolences and condolences” to Iran after Raisi’s death.

Hamas said it is extending “its sincere condolences, deep sympathy, and solidarity” to the supreme leader, “to the Iranian government, and to the brotherly Iranian people.”

Lebanon-based Hezbollah likened Raisi to a “big brother.”

Hezbollah, one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East, has clashed with Israel in near-daily cross-border skirmishes since the war in Gaza began.

Iran has provided military and economic backing to Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah.

Leaders across the Middle East and beyond are expressing their condolences after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and eight others were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

Those killed also include Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

This post has been updated.

The death of President Ebrahim Raisi couldn’t have come at a “more unstable time” for both Iran and the region, according to CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour. 

International outlook

Raisi’s death comes as Israel’s war against Hamas continues into its eighth month, fueling a spiraling humanitarian catastrophe and sending regional tensions soaring.

“The perennial shadow war between Israel and Iran that had been going on broke into the open over the last several weeks,” Amanpour said.

“You can imagine for the United States, for the west, one of the most important issues is the Iran nuclear issue,” she added.

Raisi took the presidency as negotiations with the US over how to revive the 2015 nuclear deal stalled.

“It’s known that the United States is trying to stabilize issues with Iran, given the volatility of the region right now.”

Domestic outlook

“Iran faces internal protests and discontent that have been crushed brutally in the aftermath of Mahsa Amini’s death,” Amanpour said, referring to the 22-year-old woman who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly.

Amanpour noted that Raisi was at one point considered a successor to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is 85.

Raisi was no stranger to political crackdowns and was heavily involved in repression in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution that turned the country into an Islamic republic.

“He had been overseeing some of the trials of the revolution and at one point signing off on one that led to the execution of thousands of anti-regime officials,” Amanpour said.

Watch Christiane Amanpour’s full analysis:

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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi holds a news conference in New York on September 20.

The Iranian government expressed its condolences for the deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and seven others in a helicopter crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province on Sunday. 

In a statement Monday, the president’s cabinet praised Raisi as a “hard-working and tireless” president who served the people of Iran to help advance and progress the country.

The cabinet also reaffirmed that there “will not be the slightest disturbance” in the administration of Iran in the wake of the deadly crash. 

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting in New York on September 20, 2023.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s death “comes at a really tricky time” for the country, an analyst said, as the nation looks to find a new person to garner support as well as loyalty to the system.

Vakil also noted that Iran recently completed parliamentary elections, for which the turn out was “very low.”

“The lowest ever in the history of the Islamic Republic’s 45 years,” she said. “To go through another political transition with less public participation and to try and find a new individual that could generate support from the population as well as loyalty to the system will be tricky.”

Vakil noted that “not too much” may change in terms of foreign policy, but the domestic landscape, which is “notoriously divisive,” will shift.