Iranian Red Crescent Society, via Agence France-Presse./Getty Images
President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran was killed along with the country’s foreign minister in a helicopter crash on Sunday in the country’s mountainous northwest, state news media reported on Monday, leaving the country without two of its most influential figures at a time of heightened foreign tensions and domestic discontent.
President Raisi’s death was announced from the podium of Iran’s most revered Shia shrine, the mausoleum of Imam Reza, in his hometown of Mashhad. A large crowd of government supporters had gathered there overnight to hold a prayer vigil. People broke into loud shrieks and wails when the announcement was made.
The death of Mr Raisi, a conservative who violently crushed dissent and was widely viewed as a possible successor to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, comes during a particularly tumultuous period for Iran.
During Mr Raisi’s tenure, the country had been roiled by protests and economic upheaval and engaged in a long shadow war with Israel, which burst into the open in an exchange of direct strikes last month.
Mr Raisi, 63, and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian were travelling from Iran’s border with Azerbaijan after inaugurating a joint dam project at the time of the crash in a rugged, mountainous area near the city of Jolfa. Search and rescue teams scoured an area of mountains and dense forest through rain and fog. The authorities called off the aerial search at one point because of the weather, dispatching elite commandos of the Revolutionary Guards and others on foot.
Even before the crash site was located, Mr Khamenei vowed in an address on state television that there would be “no disruption” to the country’s operations. “Senior officials are doing their work and I have advised them on the necessary points and all of the country’s operation will carry on smoothly and orderly,” he said.
Mr. Raisi had been viewed as one of the front-runners to succeed Mr. Khamenei as supreme leader. Now, his death paves the way for Mr. Khamenei’s son Mojtaba to assume that role.
Source: NYT
伊朗媒體報道，伊朗總統萊西在直升機失事中喪生
根據官方新聞媒體週一報道，週日，伊朗總統易卜拉欣·萊西和該國外交部長在該國西北部山區的一次直升機墜毀事故中喪生，導致該國在外交緊張局勢加劇之際失去了兩位最有影響力的人物。
萊西總統的去世消息是在伊朗最受尊敬的什葉派聖地——位於他的家鄉馬什哈德的伊瑪目禮薩陵墓的講台上宣布的。 一大群政府支持者連夜聚集在那裡舉行守夜祈禱活動。 消息公佈後，人們爆發出大聲尖叫和哀號。
萊西是保守派人士，暴力鎮壓異見，被廣泛視為伊朗最高領袖阿亞圖拉阿里·哈梅內伊的可能繼任者，他的去世正值伊朗特別動蕩的時期。
在萊西任職期間，該國飽受抗議和經濟動盪的困擾，並與以色列進行了長期的影子戰爭，上個月雙方的直接襲擊爆發為公開戰爭。
63 歲的萊西和外交部長侯賽因·阿米爾·阿卜杜拉希安(Hossein Amir Abdollahian) 剛從伊朗與阿塞拜疆邊境出發，剛剛在焦爾法市附近崎嶇的山區啟動了一個聯合大壩專案. 搜救隊冒著雨霧搜尋了山區和茂密的森林。 由於天氣原因，當局一度取消了空中搜索，並派出了革命衛隊的精銳突擊隊和其他人徒步前往。
甚至在找到墜機地點之前，哈梅內伊就在國家電視台發表講話時發誓，該國的運營不會「受到干擾」。 他說：“高級官員正在做他們的工作，我已經向他們提出了必要的建議，國家的所有運作都將順利有序地進行。”
萊西先生被視為接替哈梅內伊擔任最高領袖的領導者之一。 現在，他的去世為哈梅內伊的兒子莫吉塔巴接任這一角色鋪平了道路。
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