Ali Khamenei Appoints 'Mokhber' as Interim Head of Government, Declares Five Days of 'Public Mourning'

Ali Khamenei described the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a plane crash yesterday as 'martyrdom-like' and appointed Mohammad Mokhber to 'manage the executive branch' to arrange for a new president to be elected within 'a maximum of fifty days' with the 'cooperation of the heads of the legislative and judicial branches.' Khamenei also declared five days of 'public mourning' due to the death of Raisi and his entourage. Hours earlier, news of the death of Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Mohammad Ali Al-Hashemi, Malek Rahmati, and other passengers of the flight accompanying the head of the Islamic Republic was published in the official media of the Iranian government. Following the death of Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage, the cabinet held a meeting and issued a statement, expressing condolences for the helicopter accident and stating: 'The support of the noble people will not create the slightest disruption in the jihadist management of the country.' Following the official announcement of Ebrahim Raisi's death, an extraordinary meeting of the 'heads of branches' was held with the presence of Baqer Qalibaf and Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, hosted by Mohammad Mokhber, the first vice president, on Tuesday morning. According to the Islamic Republic's constitution, in the event of the president's death, the first vice president, with the approval of the Supreme Leader, assumes the presidency, and a council consisting of the heads of the legislative and judicial branches and the first vice president takes over executive responsibilities to hold new presidential elections within 50 days. Conflicting news about the incident continued for over 16 hours after it occurred, leading some to speculate that there was a cover-up. The Islamic Republic's rescue forces claimed they were unable to locate the site and determine the fate of the helicopter's passengers due to heavy fog and unstable weather conditions. The exact location of the downed helicopter was identified around 4 a.m. local time with the help of a night vision drone sent by Turkey, but later, Iranian officials insisted on emphasizing that the crash site was identified by Iranian drones. The head of the country's cyber police also announced from the early hours of Tuesday that 'we are closely monitoring the virtual space' and warned citizens to 'refrain from publishing content that could 'inflame public sentiment' in the current and sensitive situation. Since the news of the accident for Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage was released, Iranian users on social media have reacted widely to the issue. Government opponents expressed their happiness with sarcastic and humorous posts, while government supporters responded with 'epic' writings about the death of several Islamic Republic officials. Special news coverage of the accident for the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi - Part Two Special news coverage of the accident for the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi - Part Three Blog | UN Truth Commission: Raisi's death should not lead to forgetting human rights violations in Iran.