Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash at age 63, Iranian state media has reported.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was also among those killed, along with seven others.
His death comes at a time of high tensions in the Middle East with war raging in Gaza. The helicopter crashed on Sunday weeks after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel in response to a deadly strike on its diplomatic compound in Damascus.
Hardliner Raisi became president in 2021. He previously served as the chief justice and has overseen a period of repression of dissent in the country marked by youth-led protests against clerical rule.
He was the second-most powerful person in the Islamic Republic’s political structure after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini.
Under the Iranian Constitution, in the case of the death of the president, the first vice president will take his place with the approval of the Supreme Leader. The current first vice president is Mohammad Mokhber, 68.
