Iran confirms deaths of President Raisi and seven others in helicopter crash

The deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, governor-general of East Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati, Imam of Friday Prayer in Tabriz Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, and top IRGC commander General Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi have been officially confirmed following a helicopter crash. Two pilots and a technician, whose names have not yet been released, were also killed in the crash, Tasnim News Agency reports. 

The deaths were confirmed in a statement on social media by Vice President Mohsen Mansouri, who posted a Quranic verse used to express condolences.

State television reported that images from the site showed the aircraft slammed into a mountain peak 30 kilometers from the Azerbaijan border and was completely destroyed by fire.

The Iranian government is holding an emergency meeting, according to IRNA, and will decide, in coordination with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office, who will temporarily assume the duties of the president and foreign minister.