Live updates: Iran President Ebrahim Raisi dead in helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan Province (2024)

Reaction to the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisicontinued to filter through on Monday.

Read more on the international reaction here.

Iran’s chief of staff of the Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri, hasordered an investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Tasnim news agency said.

A high-ranking delegation, headed by a military commander and including technical experts, will go to the crash site in Eastern Azerbaijan, Tasnim said.

The helicopter crashed in a remote mountainous region in northwestern Iran on Sunday, killing Raisi, his foreign minister and seven others.

The upcoming, early election to replace Ebrahim Raisi as president could be a "watershed moment for Iran" if the country's supreme leader allows a range of candidates to stand, a Middle East expert has told CNN.

"I would argue that the most consequential immediate impact of his death is who will come in his wake," Mohammad Ali Shabani, the editor of Amwaj.media, told CNN's Becky Anderson Monday.

"That election can be a watershed moment for Iran," he said.

Shabani conceded that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "is more inclined towards conservative rule than to open up the political space."

But he said Khamenei "has always emphasized voter turnout as a litmus test of the legitimacy of the system."

Raisi became president of Iran in June 2021 after winning a historically uncompetitive presidential election. Many reform-minded Iranians had refused to take part in an election widely seen as a foregone conclusion, and turnout slumped below 50%.

Khamenei "has now... a golden opportunity to, in a face-saving way, reverse course" by allowing competitive elections and encouraging turnout, Shabani said.

The body of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the other victims of Sunday's helicopter crash will be transferred on Tuesday from Tabriz to the northeastern city of Mashhad, where Raisi was born, according to Fars news.

A large public ceremony is scheduled to take place at a prayer hall in Tabriz at 4 p.m. local time on Monday, Fars news reported.

At 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday, a large procession will accompany the bodies of Raisi and the other victims from Tabriz Martyr's Square to the city's airport. From there, the bodies will be moved to Mashhad, according to Fars.

Raisi was born in Mashhad in 1960. He ran the powerful charity known as Astan-e Quds-e Razavi, which manages the huge Imam Reza shrine, a major Islamic holy site in the city.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi was confirmed dead by state media on Monday morning, after a helicopter he was traveling in alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and seven others crashed in foggy conditions in the country's remote northwest on Sunday.

Here's what to know now:

Acting president: In the wake of Raisi's death, Vice President Mohammad Mokhber has been appointed as acting president.

Acting foreign minister: Ali Bagheri Kani, who has led Iranian delegations through indirect negotiations with the United States over nuclear issues and prisoner exchanges, has been appointed acting foreign minister after the death ofAmir-Abdollahian, state news agency IRNA reported.

New elections: The Iranianconstitution mandates that the three heads of the branches of government, including the vice president, speaker of the parliament, and head of the judiciary, must arrange for an election and elect a new leader within 50 days of assuming the role of actingPresident. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a message to state news agencies that Mokhber was responsible for organizingelections for a new president within that time.

Public mourning: Ayatollah Khamenei has announced five days of public mourning after the crash, and expressed his condolences. All cultural and arts activities have been canceled in Iran for the next seven days.

Global reaction: The loss of Raisi — a conservative hardliner and protege of Ayatollah Khamenei — is expected to sow further uncertainty in a country already buckling under significant economic and political strain, with tensions with nearby Israel at a dangerous high. His death has already triggered international reaction with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India and the UAE leader expressing their condolences for his death. Lebanon has declared three days of mourning.

Militias respond: Iran-backed militant groups Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah have sent condolences to Tehran over the death of Raisi.

All cultural and arts activities in Iran will be suspended for seven days following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, the Ministry of Culture announced on Monday.

Raisi died in a helicopter crash at age 63.

The country’s foreign minister and seven others were also killed after the crash in a remote, mountainous area of Iran’s northwest.

Iran's acting president Mohammad Mokhber held an "extraordinary meeting" on Monday with the heads of the legislative and judicial branches following the announcement of President Ebrahim Raisi's death, according to Iranian state media.

Mokhber spoke withIranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf andHujjat al-Islam Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, the head of Iran's Judiciary, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News.

The three expressed their condolences and reaffirmed the three branches of government will continue its duties to the nation "without any interruption," Tasnim reported.

Ali Bagheri Kani, who has led Iranian delegations through indirect negotiations with the United States over nuclear issues and prisoner exchanges, has been appointed acting foreign minister after the death of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, state news agency IRNA reported.

Amir-Abdollahian was among the nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Iran's remote northwestern mountainous region on Sunday, along with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.