Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had a “lot of blood on his hands,” the White House claimed on Monday, despite Washington’s condolences following his death in a helicopter crash.
“This was a man who had a lot of blood on his hands,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, adding that Raisi was responsible for “atrocious” human rights violations in Iran and had supported regional proxies such as Hamas.
Kirby said that “as in any other case, we certainly regret in general the loss of life and offered official condolences as appropriate.”
Meanwhile, Iran announced Monday it will hold presidential elections on June 28, state media reported, following the death of Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash.
“The election calendar was approved at the meeting of the heads of the judiciary, government, and parliament,” state television said. “According to the initial agreement of the Guardian Council, it was decided that the 14th presidential election will be held on June 28.”
Iranians began mourning Raisi, whose chopper crashed into a foggy mountain, causing political turmoil in the Islamic republic.
Raisi, 63, his foreign minister, and seven others killed after the aircraft crashed on Sunday in a remote area of northwestern Iran, and the wreckage was only discovered on Monday morning.
Raisi, an ultraconservative, has been in government since 2021, a volatile period marked by huge protests, an economic crisis exacerbated by US sanctions, and violent skirmishes with Iran’s arch-enemy Israel.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, decreed five days of mourning and announced that vice president Mohammad Mokhber, 68, would take over as interim president until elections are held within 50 days.
“The Iranian nation has lost a sincere and valuable servant,” said 85-year-old Khamenei, who many observers anticipated Raisi to succeed someday.
Thousands Iranian mourners gathered in central Tehran’s Valiasr Square to pay tribute to Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Funeral ceremonies for them and the other dead — three crew members, two bodyguards, an imam, and a provincial governor — were scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan province, before Raisi’s body was transported to Tehran.
A funeral procession will be held in the capital on Wednesday morning.
Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s military chief of staff, has ordered “a high-ranking committee to launch an investigation into the cause of the president’s helicopter crash….S££ MOR£
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