Iranian president and his delegation die in helicopter crash
Funeral date unveiled / UPDATED

REGION  20 May 2024 - 12:57

The funeral ceremony for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage, who died in a helicopter crash, will be held on 21 May in Tabriz.

Caliber.Az reports citing Iranian media that Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will serve as head of state for 50 days until new presidential elections.

11:37

Mohammad Saleh Jokar, chairman of the Iranian parliament's internal affairs commission, has said that snap presidential elections in Iran should be held within the next 50 days.

"According to the law, the 14th presidential election should be held in the next 50 days, after his election, the new president will present a new cabinet to the parliament for approval," Jokar noted, Caliber.Az reports, citing Iranian media.

In addition, all sporting events in Iran have been cancelled this week due to the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdollahian in a plane crash, according to Islamic republic's Deputy Sports Minister Seyyed Mohammad Sharvin Esbaghian, IRNA reported.

"By order of the Minister of Youth and Sports, all competitions this week have been cancelled," the agency quoted him as saying.

09:20

All passengers and crew of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter have died in the crash, said the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pir Hossein Kolivand.

Iranian Vice President Mohsen Mansouri confirmed the information about the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and his delegation in the helicopter crash, Caliber.Az reports, citing Iranian media.

Kolivand said search and rescue teams have found the helicopter of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi that made a hard landing.

"The helicopter has been found and we are heading towards it," he told IRIB TV.

He added that the helicopter is visible, "it is about 2 kilometres away, the rescuers will reach the place in a few minutes." Kolivand noted that the conditions of the aircraft "cannot be called good".

Lieutenant General Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC, Iran's elite military units), confirmed that search parties have found the aircraft and are on their way to the crash site.

ISNA, Mehr, Fars and Tasnim news agencies published a photograph showing Raisi's helicopter partially visible in the thick of trees on a hillside. ISNA news agency published a photo of the extinguishing of the burnt helicopter.

Mehr reported that there was no evidence that the passengers survived after the location of the Raisi helicopter crash site was found.

The procedure of identification of the bodies of the victims of the crash in the northwest of Iran of the helicopter of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has begun, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Works on identification of bodies are being carried out at the crash site.

Caliber.Az