Iran’s president and foreign minister die in helicopter crash at moment of high tensions in Mideast

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The Associated Press’ news director for the Gulf and Iran, Jon Gambrell, explains tensions facing Iran after a helicopter crash killed its president. (AP video shot by Bassam Hatoum)Videos

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BY  JON GAMBRELLUpdated 9:52 AM MST, May 20, 2024Share

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s foreign minister were found dead Monday hours after their helicopter crashed in fog, leaving the Islamic Republic without two key leaders as extraordinary tensions grip the wider Middle East.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in the Shiite theocracy, quickly named a little-known vice president as caretaker and insisted the government was in control, but the deaths mark yet another blow to a country beset by pressures both at home and abroad.

Iran has offered no cause for the crash nor suggested sabotage brought down the helicopter, which fell in mountainous terrain in a sudden, intense fog.

In Tehran, Iran’s capital, businesses were open and children attended school Monday. However, there was a noticeable presence of both uniformed and plainclothes security forces.

Later in the day, hundreds of mourners crowded into downtown Vali-e-Asr square holding posters of Raisi and waving Palestinian flags. Some men clutched prayer beads and were visibly crying. Women wearing black chadors gathered together holding photos of the dead leader.

What to know:

• The crash: Follow AP’s live coverage of the helicopter crash in which Iran’s president and foreign minister were found dead.
• Ebrahim Raisi: Iran’s hard-line president has long been seen as a protégé to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
• Hossein Amirabdollahian: The foreign minister represented the hard-line shift after the collapse of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
• International reaction: Countries including Russia, Iraq and Qatar have made formal statements of concern about Raisi’s fate.