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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced five days of mourning following the death of the country's President, Ebrahim Raisi.

Mr Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area of north-western Iran, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several others.

State media confirmed they were killed after the helicopter they were travelling in came down on Sunday.

Ayatollah Khamenei said he offered his condolences "to the dear people of Iran". Mr Raisi, 63, had been tipped as a potential successor to the supreme leader.

Tracy Chamoun is the former Ambassador of Lebanon to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. She says that the incident is polarising in the region: "Here there are people dancing in the streets, and there are other people that are going to be very concerned about this event, and the implications of this event for the whole region."

"I think it's going to put a lot of pressure on the Iranian regime at this point... it creates a certain element of unpredictability about the future, and that's always concerning for everybody who's involved in such large-scale operations and wars."

(Image: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attending a meeting in May 2024. Credit: Rex / Shutterstock

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