President Raisi’s passing prompts Iran to observe five days of mourning

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, declared on Monday that President Ebrahim Raisi would be remembered for five days following his death in a helicopter accident.

“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” said Khamenei in an official statement a day after the death of Raisi and other officials in the crash in East Azerbaijan province.

President Raisi passed away on Monday following the crash of his helicopter in a nation full of mountains.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign minister, was traveling with Raisi when he too perished in the collision.

Since Sunday afternoon, when a chopper carrying Raisi, the foreign minister, and other officials vanished, search and rescue teams have been combing the area.

Relief workers found the missing chopper early on Monday, and state TV announced the president’s death.

“The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said Monday, with Mehr news agency also saying he was dead.

State television broadcast photos of Raisi, with the voice of a man reciting the Koran playing in the background.

Iran’s vice president for executive affairs Mohsen Mansouri posted on X a Koranic verse used to express condolences.