Helicopter accident | Iran in mourning after the death of President Raïssi

(Tehran) Iran declared five days of mourning on Monday to pay tribute to its president, Ebrahim Raïssi, who died in a helicopter crash, three years after the coming to power of this ultraconservative who was considered one of the favorites to succeed the Supreme Guide, Ali Khamenei.

The death of Mr. Raïssi at 63 opens a period of political uncertainty in Iran, at a time when the Middle East is shaken by the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, an ally of the Islamic Republic.

His sudden death will lead to a presidential election which must be organized “within 50 days”. It will take place on June 28, according to state television. In the meantime, it is the first vice-president Mohammad Mokhber, a 68-year-old shadowy man, who will assume the functions of interim president.

Elected president in 2021, Ebrahim Raïssi was considered one of the favorites to succeed the Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, aged 85, for whom “the Iranian nation has lost a sincere and precious servant”.

Thousands of mourners gathered in Valiasr Square in central Tehran to pay tribute to Ebrahim Raisi as well as Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, 60, who also died in the crash.

Mr. Mokhber appointed the chief negotiator of the nuclear file, Ali Bagheri, 56, as head of diplomacy on an interim basis.

The helicopter’s nine passengers also included the governor of East Azerbaijan province, the region’s main imam, as well as the president’s security chief and three crew members.

The funeral will begin Tuesday in Tabriz, the large city in the northwest of the country, and a funeral procession will take place Wednesday morning in Tehran, according to authorities.

” Real friend ”

The president’s helicopter went missing Sunday afternoon while flying over a rugged, forested region of Iran in difficult weather conditions, with rain and thick fog.

The wreckage was discovered at dawn on the side of a mountain which he hit for a still unknown reason, according to media reports.

Emergency services recovered the remains scattered among the debris of the plane, a Bell 212, on Monday morning.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash, according to the ISNA news agency.

The Turkish Transport Minister claimed that the helicopter did not have a “signaling system”, or that it was broken when it crashed.

Ankara, which deployed a Turkish Akinci drone in the crash zone on Sunday evening, claimed that its device made it possible to locate the wreckage of the helicopter, discovered in north-west Iran.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Monday a day of national mourning as many countries sent messages of condolences and the UN Security Council observed a minute of silence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to a “remarkable politician” and a “true friend” of Russia. His death is a “great loss for the Iranian people”, greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping.

France, the European Union, NATO as well as Iran’s Arab neighbors in the Gulf presented their condolences for the death of President Raïssi.

Sworn enemy of Iran, Washington presented its “official condolences” in a statement from the State Department, whose spokesperson Matthew Miller also indicated that Tehran had requested assistance from the States after the crushing. -United States, which were unable to do so, “mainly for logistical reasons”.

White House spokesperson John Kirby, for his part, affirmed that Raisi was “a man who had a lot of blood on his hands” and was “responsible for atrocious human rights violations” in Iran.

“No disruption”

Mr. Raïssi, who had the title of ayatollah, was considered an ultraconservative, he was elected on June 18, 2021 in the first round of a vote marked by a record abstention for a presidential election and the absence of strong competitors .

Always wearing his black turban and wearing a long religious cloak, he succeeded the moderate Hassan Rouhani, who beat him in the 2017 presidential election.

He was supported by the main authority of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who on Sunday called on “the Iranian people” to “not worry” because “there will be no disruption in the administration of the country “.

Latest pro-Palestinian message

Raisi visited the province of Eastern Azerbaijan on Sunday, where he notably inaugurated a dam in the company of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, on the border between the two countries.

During a press conference, he once again supported Hamas against Israel. “We believe that Palestine is the first issue of the Muslim world,” he said.

In a message of condolences, Hamas welcomed “support for the Palestinian resistance”.

Iran launched an unprecedented attack on April 13 against Israel, with 350 drones and missiles, most of which were intercepted with the help of the United States and several other allied countries.

Mr. Raïssi emerged strengthened from the legislative elections in March, the first national election since the protest movement which shook Iran at the end of 2022 following the death of the young Mahsa Amini, arrested for non-compliance with the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic.

Born in November 1960, he spent most of his career in the judicial system, notably being prosecutor general of Tehran then prosecutor general of the country, positions where his reputation for firmness towards the “enemies” of the country was built. Islamic Republic.

Mr. Raïssi was on the American blacklist of Iranian officials sanctioned by Washington for “complicity in serious human rights violations”, accusations dismissed as null and void by Tehran.