Iran's president, foreign minister, other officials confirmed dead in helicopter crash

Iran's controversial President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials were confirmed dead on Monday after their helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country’s northwest, Iranian state media reported.

The death of Raisi, nicknamed the "Butcher of Tehran" for his oversight of mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, forced Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to install interim leadership for Iran's executive branch. An Israeli official denied to Reuters the country had any involvement in the deadly crash, saying, bluntly, "it wasn't us."

Iran for years has backed the terror group Hamas, currently engaged in its monthslong war with Israel.

Iranian State TV said earlier Monday that there was "no sign of life" at the crash site of the helicopter that was carrying 63-year-old Raisi, 60-year-old Abdollahian and other officials after it made a "hard landing" on Sunday.

The crash site was across a steep valley, according to state media, which gave no immediate cause for the crash.

As the sun rose on Monday, rescuers saw the helicopter from a distance of roughly 1.25 miles, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pir Hossein Kolivand told state media. The officials had been missing for more than 12 hours when the helicopter was observed.

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Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian were traveling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province when the helicopter made what state TV described as a "hard landing" near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, roughly 375 miles northwest of Tehran. State TV later said it crashed further east near the village of Uzi, although details remained contradictory.

The governor of the East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards were also aboard, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. One local government official described what happened as a "crash," while others referred to it as a "hard landing" or an "incident."

"The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog," Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TV.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei later confirmed First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as interim head of the country's executive branch following the crash.

The incident comes as Iran, under Raisi and Khamenei, launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack against Israel last month.

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Iran has also faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy in response to a struggling economy and attacks on women's rights.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.