Iran president dead in helicopter crash
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were found dead at the site
What happened
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is dead, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and seven other people traveling aboard a helicopter that crashed Sunday, Iranian state TV said Monday morning. Rescuers reached the remote crash site hours after the helicopter made what authorities originally called a "hard landing" amid thick fog in mountainous terrain in northwestern Iran.
Who said what
"We assure our loyal and appreciative and beloved nation that the path of service will continue with the tireless spirit of Ayatollah Raisi," Raisi's Cabinet said after an emergency meeting.
Raisi, a 63-year-old conservative hardliner elected in 2021, was close with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and widely considered a potential successor to the 85-year-old supreme leader. But he and "his conservative government were not popular among the majority of Iranians because they had reinstated oppressive social rules" and "violently cracked down on dissent," especially mass protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, The New York Times said. Raisi also oversaw Iran's first direct attack on Israel and armed Russia for its war in Ukraine.
What next?
Raisi's death "is not expected to disrupt the direction of Iranian policy or jolt the Islamic Republic in any consequential way," but it will "test" the hardliners' total grip on power, the BBC said. Assuming Khamenei approves, First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will assume the duties of the presidency, as stipulated in Iran's constitution. Elections are to be called within 50 days.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
San Francisco tackles affordability problems with free child careThe Explainer The free child care will be offered to thousands of families in the city
-
How realistic is the Democratic plan to retake the Senate this year?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Schumer is growing bullish on his party’s odds in November — is it typical partisan optimism, or something more?
-
Taxes: It’s California vs. the billionairesFeature Larry Page and Peter Thiel may take their wealth elsewhere
-
‘It may portend something more ominous’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
White House halts migrant visas for 75 countriesSpeed Read Brazil, Egypt, Russia, Iran and Somalia are among the nations on the list
-
Trump, Senate GOP block Venezuela war powers voteSpeed Read Two Republicans senators flipped their vote back amid GOP pressure
-
White House ends TPS protections for SomalisSpeed Read The Trump administration has given these Somalis until March 17 to leave the US
-
Clintons defy House GOP on Epstein subpoenasSpeed Read The House has already received what ‘little information we have,’ the Clintons said
-
Prosecutors quit as DOJ pushes probe of Good widowSpeed Read At least six prosecutors have resigned in Minnesota
-
Judge clears wind farm construction to resumeSpeed Read The Trump administration had ordered the farm shuttered in December over national security issues
-
Kelly sues Hegseth, Pentagon over censureSpeed Read Hegseth’s censure was ‘unlawful and unconstitutional,’ Kelly said
