Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and seven others on Sunday. Raisi was 63, Iranian news agencies have reported.
Agencies also reported that "no survivors were found" at the crash site as Red Crescent rescuers showed drone footage of the wrecked aircraft.
International news reports said the President was likely to have been flying in a Bell 212 copter which came into service in the 60s. Servicing and maintenance of aircraft have been hit because of lack of spare parts due to restrictions imposed on Iran by the US and other countries.
When the helicopter was found "there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive as of yet," state TV said.
Urging people to remain calm in a televised address, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei assured that there would be no disruption in the country's governance.
Raisi, the most powerful man in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, has died at a time when situation is grim in the Middle East, with the Israel-Hamas war showing no sign of stopping in Gaza.
Israel also launched a strike on Iran's diplomatic annexe in Damascus, was countered by Iran in a drone and missile attack.
Raisi, considered to be a hardliner, was chief justice earlier, seeing repressive measures intensifying in the country as the youth protested against clerical rule.
He became President after a virtually uncontested election in 2021.
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