President Ebrahim Raisi and all other passengers, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, died in the helicopter crash, according to confirmation from Iranian authorities on Monday.

A senior Iranian source told Reuters, “President Raisi, the foreign minister, and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” asking anonymity because of the delicate nature of the situation.

According to Iran’s Mehr news agency, “all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred,” confirming the development.

On Sunday, as the helicopter carrying President Raisi and his foreign minister was flying over a mountainous area in dense fog, it crashed.

According to Iranian official media, poor weather contributed to the crash and made rescue efforts more difficult. US-made Bell 212 helicopters are what Raisi was reportedly piloting, according to state news agency IRNA.

Along with the president and FM, the crashed helicopter also contained a number of other people, including Hojjatoleslam Al Hashem, the head of the Friday prayer in Tabriz, and Malek Rahmati, the governor of East Azarbaijan Province, according to IRNA.

The Iranian army’s chief of staff has directed that all army and Revolutionary Guard resources be used for search and rescue efforts.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, had earlier attempted to calm Iranians by stating that there would be no interruption to state business.

Earlier on Monday morning, rescue crews battled through the night against blizzards and challenging terrain in order to arrive at the wreckage.

The chief of the Iran Red Crescent Society, Pir-Hossein Kolivand, stated in an interview with the semi-official Tasnim news agency that “no trace of survivors has been seen after the discovery of the site of the crashed helicopter.”

Earlier, the national broadcaster had canceled all scheduled programs to highlight national prayers for Raisi.

Numerous nations voiced their worries and offered support for any rescue efforts.

US President Joe Biden was briefed on the crash reports, according to the White House. China expressed its extreme worry. Satellite mapping technology for emergencies was provided by the European Union.

What happens next? According to Iran’s constitution, in the event of Raisi’s passing, Vice President Mohmmad Mokhber would assume presidential powers.

The first vice president assumes the presidency in the event of a president’s death while in office, subject to the supreme leader’s approval and his or her last say on all matters of state (Article 131 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution, as reported by Reuters).

A council made up of the speaker of the house of representatives, the chief justice, and the first vice president is required to set up a new president’s election within a maximum of fifty days.

After Raisi won the presidency in 2021, a presidential election was scheduled for 2025 according to the regular schedule. Constitutional provisions currently allow the polls to

be anticipated to occur by the beginning of July.

Along with the speaker of the house of representatives and the head of the judiciary, Mokhber serves as interim president and is a member of a three-person committee that will arrange a new presidential election within 50 days of the deceased president’s passing.

Previously, Mokhber oversaw Setad, an investment fund connected to the supreme commander.A list of people and organizations that the European Union sanctioned in 2010 for their alleged involvement in “nuclear or ballistic missile activities” included Mokhber. It took two years for it to take him off the list.

Setad and the 37 companies it supervised were added to the US Treasury Department’s list of sanctioned organizations in 2013.