In a message issued on Monday morning, Ayatollah Khamenei expressed his great sadness over the death of President Raisi in the incident that took place in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province a day earlier.

In the message, the Supreme Leader described Raisi as a hard-working cleric and a popular president who dedicated his life to serving the people of Iran, the country and Islam.

“In this bitter tragedy, the Iranian nation lost a warm-hearted, humble and valued servant,” said Ayatollah Khamenei, adding that President Raisi never stopped his hard and round-the-clock work for the people of Iran despite being faced with criticisms of ill-wishers.

He offered condolences to the Iranian nation and approved Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber to take over as interim president and to cooperate with the heads of the Iranian parliament and judiciary to prepare the ground for the election of a new president within the next 50 days.

Ayatollah Khamenei also expressed sadness over the death of other senior officials who were with President Raisi in the helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian as well as Tabriz Friday prayer leader and the provincial governor.