Iranian President Raisi confirmed dead in helicopter crash

 Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other high-ranking politicians have been killed in a helicopter crash. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a period of national mourning.

Raisi was declared dead after rescue teams found his crashed helicopter

Afghanistan's Taliban saddened by death of Iranian president

Afghanistan's Taliban government said they were deeply saddened by the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. 

"We share our grief with the Islamic Republic of Iran and the people of that country and offer our condolences to all the families of the victims, the nation and the government of Iran," the Taliban prime minister, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, said in a statement.

Iran is one of the few nations that maintained a diplomatic presence in Kabul after the Taliban regained power in 2021.

No country has recognized Kabul's new rulers yet, but the Taliban authorities have taken over the Afghan mission in Tehran.

Iranian state media: Raisi funeral to take place on Tuesday

Funeral rites for Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi and the other victims of the helicopter crash would be held on Tuesday in Tabriz, state media reported.

"The funeral ceremonies for the president and his companions will take place Tuesday at 9:30 am local time (0600 GMT) in Tabriz," Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said. 

Raisi's body would later be taken to the capital Tehran.

The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced five days of public mourning earlier.

Iran's First Vice President Mokhber appointed interim president

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced that First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber would take over as interim president, following the confirmed death of Raisi.

"I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran," Khamenei, who holds ultimate power in Iran, said in a statement. The 68 year-old-Mokhber, like the late Raisi, is seen as close to Khamenei.

Mokhber's public profile is rather low-key. However, the interim president has held prominent positions within the country's power structure, especially within its charitable foundations.

Iran's constitution stipulates that elections to choose a new president should be held within some 50 days.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri was also appointed as acting foreign minister on Monday, a government spokesman was cited by the French AFP news agency as saying. He replaces Hossein Amirabdollahian, who died alongside Raisi in the helicopter crash.