Iran's President Raisi killed alongside foreign minister in remote helicopter crash

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian are confirmed dead hours after the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in bad weather in a dense forest area in eastern Azerbaijan and a desperate search was launched.

Also on board the helicopter were the governor of East Azerbaijan, Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as several others.

There was no official notification of his death at press time.

A spokesman for the Iranian embassy in Kuala Lumpur told MalaysiaNow that they were awaiting the official announcement, adding that preparations were being made to open a condolence book  to the public and fly the flag at half-mast as a sign of mourning.

Raisi’s helicopter crashed in the Varzaqan region on Sunday as he was returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.

Raisi, 63, was the eighth president since the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the Western-backed Shah regime and was often tipped as Khamenei's successor.

He was defeated by former president Hassan Rouhani in the 2017 presidential elections, but came to power after winning the 2021 elections.

His death comes more than a month after Iran fired hundreds of missiles at Israel in retaliation for the attack on the Islamic Republic's embassy in Syria.

Under Raisi, Iran continued its tradition of strong support for the Palestinian cause, and his death will be welcomed by both the US and Israel.

However, analysts said this was no cause for celebration for Iran's critics as it would not lead to a change in its entrenched anti-Israel policy or destabilise the Iranian government.

First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber, 68, is expected to take over as acting president until a presidential election, which must be held within 50 days.

There is already speculation that Raisi's ally, current speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, could run.

Ghalibaf, a former police chief and former mayor of Tehran, is considered a stronger opponent of Israel and Western policies in the Middle East, and is close to Khamenei.

He has run as a candidate in three presidential elections: 2005, 2013 and 2017, conceding second place to Rouhani in the last election.

In 2021, he withdrew his candidacy and supported Raisi.