[ti:Iran's President, Foreign Minister Killed in Helicopter Crash]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
[00:00.04]Iranian state media reported Monday
[00:03.76]that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
[00:07.40]and other top officials
[00:09.56]died in a helicopter crash
[00:12.04]in the country's northwest.
[00:14.24]The helicopter crashed on Sunday in bad weather
[00:18.72]in Iran's East Azerbaijan province.
[00:22.64]Search crews found the wreckage Monday.
[00:26.04]Iranian Foreign Minister
[00:28.32]Hossein Amirabdollahian
[00:30.56]was also among those killed.
[00:33.80]The Iranian officials were returning to Iran
[00:37.24]after attending the opening
[00:39.24]of a joint dam project
[00:41.32]at the Iran-Azerbaijan border.
[00:45.60]Iran's Supreme Leader  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
[00:50.28]announced five days of mourning.
[00:53.32]He appointed Vice President
[00:55.72]Mohammad Mokhber as acting president.
[00:59.52]Mokhber then named Deputy Foreign Minister
[01:03.52]Ali Bagheri Kani as foreign minister caretaker,
[01:07.80]a Cabinet official said.
[01:10.32]An election for a new president
[01:13.16]is set to take place in the next 50 days.
[01:17.32]Raisi was 63 years old.
[01:21.60]He was elected president in 2021.
[01:25.04]Most of his main opponents
[01:27.56]were barred from running in the election,
[01:30.60]which had record low turnout among voters.
[01:34.80]Raisi, an ultraconservative,
[01:38.28]had strong support from Khamenei.
[01:43.04]On Sunday, Iranian state television
[01:46.04]video of government supporters
[01:48.84]gathering in different parts of the country
[01:51.80]to pray for Raisi's safe return.
[01:56.44]Images published on social media
[01:59.08]Sunday showed opponents of Iran's
[02:01.96]Islamist rulers setting off fireworks
[02:05.36]in several places to
[02:07.84]celebrate the possibility of Raisi's death.
[02:11.48]VOA's Persian Service examined the images
[02:16.24]and said they are credible, or real.
[02:19.36]But it could not independently
[02:22.12]confirm the reason for the fireworks.
[02:25.52]VOA is barred from reporting inside Iran.
[02:31.00]In one video, a woman identifies
[02:33.96]the location of fireworks as southern Tehran.
[02:38.52]In another video, a man reacts
[02:41.52]to what he says are fireworks
[02:44.16]in the city of Saqqez
[02:46.32]in northwestern Iran's Kurdistan province.
[02:51.20]Governments around the world
[02:53.00]reacted to the news of Raisi's death.
[02:57.00]Pakistan, Lebanon, Iraq
[02:59.64]and other nations announced
[03:01.80]a period of mourning.
[03:04.12]Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev
[03:07.40]said Monday that he was
[03:09.52]"deeply shocked by the heavy loss."
[03:12.36]Russian President Vladimir Putin
[03:15.28]praised Raisi as an "outstanding politician."
[03:19.36]He called him a "true friend of Russia."
[03:23.32]Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi
[03:26.80]expressed Egypt's solidarity with
[03:29.96]"the leadership and people of Iran
[03:32.88]in this great loss."
[03:35.08]Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
[03:38.04]said he was shocked by the development.
[03:40.88]He added that "India stands with Iran
[03:44.40]in this time of sorrow."
[03:46.56]European Council President Charles Michel
[03:50.88]said the European Union
[03:52.64]"expresses its sincere condolences."
[03:56.72]"Our thoughts go to the families," Michel said.
[04:00.48]I'm Ashley Thompson. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM