Iran’s president and his foreign minister have been confirmed dead after the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in a mountainous region during bad weather.
Rescuers reached the wreckage of the helicopter early on Monday morning after a desperate search mission hampered by rain, fog and snow.
The death of Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-liner seen as a potential successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, was confirmed shortly afterwards, when Iranian state media said he and the other passengers had “attained martyrdom”.
Khamenei, who holds ultimate power with a final say on foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear programme, described Raisi as “noble and selfless”.
“It was with great sadness and regret that I received the bitter news of the martyrdom of the Mujahid scholar, the popular and hard-working president and his dear companions, may God bless him and grant him peace,” he said.