Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border, said Iran’s official media. The charred wreckage of the helicopter which crashed on Sunday carrying President Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was found early on Monday after an overnight search in blizzard  conditions.

“President Raeisi, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan Gov. Malek Rahmati, East Azarbaijan Imam of Friday Prayer Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem and several other passengers, has been martyred in a helicopter crash in northwest of Iran,” said Iran’s Press TV.

Raisi’s death was later confirmed in a statement on social media by Vice-President Mohsen Mansouri and on state television. State TV said what it called a “hard landing” happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometres (375 miles) north-west of the Iranian capital, Tehran. State news agency IRNA said Raisi was flying in a US-made Bell 212 helicopter.

Raisi, 63, was elected President in 2021. In Iran, if the President dies during the term, Article 131 of the Constitution dictates that the first Vice-President, currently Mohammad Mokhber, assumes temporary Presidency, subject to confirmation by the supreme leader.

Furthermore, a council composed of the first vice president, the parliamentary speaker, and the judiciary head must oversee the arrangement of a new presidential election within a maximum period of 50 days.