Iran"s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced that First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber would take over as interim president, following the confirmed death of Raisi.

“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran”, Khamenei, who holds ultimate power in Iran, said in a statement. The 68 year-old-Mokhber, like the late Raisi, is seen as close to Khamenei.

Mokhber’s public profile is rather low-key. However, the interim president has held prominent positions within the country"s power structure, especially within its charitable foundations.

Iran’s constitution stipulates that elections to choose a new president should be held within some 50 days.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri was also appointed as acting foreign minister on Monday, a government spokesman was cited by the French AFP news agency as saying. He replaces Hossein Amirabdollahian, who died alongside Raisi in the helicopter crash.