Iranians mourn death of President Raisi and others in helicopter crash

Iranians gathered in the streets of various cities on Monday to express their grief over the death of the Iranian President and a number of his companions.

Mourners marched in the streets in Tabriz, Mashhad, Lorestan and Kermanshah, as well as many other major cities across Iran to mourn the loss of their leader.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s foreign minister have been found dead hours after their helicopter crashed in fog. That leaves the Islamic Republic without two key leaders as extraordinary tensions grip the wider Middle East.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei quickly named a little-known vice president as caretaker Monday. The supreme leader has the final say in the Shiite theocracy.

He insisted the government was in control, but the deaths mark yet another blow to a country beset by pressures both at home and abroad.

Iran has offered no cause for the crash nor suggested sabotage brought down the helicopter. It fell in mountainous terrain in a sudden, intense fog.

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