The development was confirmed on Monday by Vice President Mohsen Mansouri in a statement on social media and on state television.
“Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, East Azarbaijan Province’s Governor Malek Rahmati, and Mehdi Mousavi, the head of Raisi’s guard team were on board the crashed aircraft as well,” the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) earlier said.
It added that Mohammad Ali Al-e-Hashem, the Supreme Leader’s representative in the East Azerbaijan province, also accompanied President Raisi and other officials.
Earlier, a senior Iranian official, requesting anonymity following the sensitivity of the development, told Reuters: “President Raisi, the foreign minister, and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash.
Iran’s Mehr news agency also confirmed that “all passengers of the helicopter” were “martyred”.
The chopper that carried President Raisi and Iran’s foreign minister crashed on Sunday while flying through a mountainous terrain amid heavy fog in the Varzaqan region of the country’s East Azerbaijan province.
According to Iranian state media, bad weather caused the crash and complicated rescue efforts in the country’s northwestern region. Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said Raisi was flying in a US-made Bell 212 helicopter.
Following the death of the Iranian President, the Islamic Republic’s First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber is set to assume power after the Supreme Leader’s issues an approval, as per Article 131 of Iran’s Constitution.
