Nadia Ragozhina
Live editor

We are closing our coverage for the moment, thank you for being with us as we brought you news of the helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and seven members of his entourage.

You can catch up on all the details of the story here.

You can also read our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet's InDepth take on What next for Iran.

This page was written by our team in London, with help from colleagues from BBC Persian. It was edited by Johanna Chisholm, James Gregory, Owen Amos and me.

As we prepare to close our live coverage of the death of Iran's president and seven others, here’s a recap of the key developments:

• The helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi was heading to the city of Tabriz after returning from a dam opening ceremony on the Azerbaijan border
• Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also died in the crash, along with six others who were travelling with them
• The cause of the crash remains unclear, but the Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Maj Gen Mohammad Hossein Bagheri has launched an investigation, according to state media
• The funeral rites for Raisi and his entourage will begin tomorrow in Tabriz at 9.30 am local time
• Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced five days of mourning
• Mohammad Mokhber has been appointed as acting president, while Ali Bagheri Kani, who was deputy foreign minister, has been named foreign minister
• The election date has been set for 28 June
• Iranian government supporters began pouring into the squares of Tehran for a mourning ceremony - at similar events in the past people have been bussed in from schools and government offices. Many Iranians on social media have been celebrating Raisi's death
• Over in the West, the US offered its condolences over the death of Raisi, but called him a "brutal participant in the oppression of the Iranian people" who had "blood on his hands"
• Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his condolences, describing Raisi as a "true friend of Russia", while China described his death as a "great loss to the Iranian people"

As we've just reported, the US State Department spokesperson said Iran's Raisi had "blood on his hands".

Speaking separately, White House spokesperson John Kirby said the US government offered condolences on death of President Raisi but would continue to hold Iran accountable "for destabilising behaviour".

Kirby added that Raisi was responsible for Iran's "support for terrorist networks throughout the region", referring to Iran-backed groups Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, who are proscribed as terrorist organisations by many countries in the world, and have been engaged in continued conflict in the Middle East.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

The US has offered its “official condolences” to Iran following the death of President Raisi.

At a press conference on Monday, however, State Department Press Secretary Matt Miller had few kind words for the late leader.

He called Raisi a brutal participant in the oppression of the Iranian people. He said he was responsible for the deaths of thousands and some of the worst human rights abuses.

“We regret any loss of life,” he said. “That doesn’t change the record... He has blood on his hands.”

Miller also said the US was aware that some Iranian opposition groups were welcoming Raisi’s death – and said that he understood why they felt that way.

When I asked him whether he was also aware of the threats made against those celebrating by supporters of the Iranian regime, he said he was – and warned Iran not to infringe on the “fundamental freedoms” of the Iranian people.

Our colleagues at BBC World Service have been speaking to people in Iran, and here's what they had to say.

Iran's IRNA news agency has just announced that a date has ben set for Iran's presidential election - it will be held on 28 June.

Earlier we reported that according to Iran's constitution new elections were expected to be held in the next 50 days.

The US has now expressed its "official condolences" for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials in the helicopter crash.

"As Iran selects a new president, we reaffirm our support for the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also said there was no immediate security impact arising from Raisi's death and that the US did not know the cause of the crash but did not dispute that it was an accident.

"We continue to monitor the situation but we don't have any insights into the cause of the accident," he added.

UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat is making his position clear on the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, saying he "will not mourn" the leader who was killed in a helicopter crash.

"President Raisi’s regime has murdered thousands at home, and targeted people here in Britain and across Europe," the MP for Tonbridge and Malling posted on X, external.

"I will not mourn him."

Tugendhat's comments are a direct response to President of the European Council Charles Michel's earlier post on X, where Michel expressed the EU's "sincere condolences" for the death of Raisi, Iran's Foreign Minister Abdollahian and others who were killed in the crash.

The UK government has yet to comment on Raisi's death.

BBC Monitoring

Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Maj Gen Mohammad Hossein Bagheri has instructed a high-ranking delegation to investigate the cause of the helicopter crash killing President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the official IRNA news agency reported on 20 May.

A delegation led by Brig Gen Pilot Ali Abdollahi comprising national and military experts and technicians, arrived at the crash site in East Azerbaijan and commenced their investigation into the incident, said the report.

The news about the death of the top officials was announced in the early hours of 20 May after hours of search and rescue operations and the finding of the wreckage of the helicopter.

As we've been reporting, Raisi and his entourage were killed in a helicopter crash while returning from a visit to a north-western border region.

Among those aboard were East Azerbaijan Governor General Malek Rahmati and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in the province.

IRNA added that the results of the investigations would be communicated subsequently.

Ece Göksedef
Live reporter

More details are coming from Turkey, which sent drones to locate the helicopter debris after the crash last night.

The helicopter that was carrying Iran's president and foreign minister “did not have its signal system turned on or did not possess such a system,” Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu has said.

Turkey hosts an emergency research coordination centre for aviation accidents and Iran falls into its area of responsibility, Uraloglu has said.

“We checked for a signal from the helicopter, but unfortunately, most likely the signal system was turned off or that the helicopter did not have that signal system, we could not detect them,” he told reporters.

A ministry official told the BBC that they had received a call from Iran last night, asking for assistance to detect the signal.

“We checked for the signal, as we always do when requested, but there was so signal,” he said.

The official didn't know whether the helicopter wasn't equipment with the system because it didn't have the latest technology, or if it had been turned off. But he said he believed it should not have been turned off because for security reasons.

“All kinds of aircrafts, especially the ones which are carrying state officials, should have this system,” he said.

What weather conditions were forecast before crash?published at 17:44 British Summer Time 20 May

17:44 BST 20 May

Image source, Sahand TV

Although the cause of the crash that killed President Raisi and seven others remains unclear, Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the helicopter was “forced to make a hard landing due to bad weather conditions and fog in the area”.

So what do we know about the weather?

On 18 May, the local state TV station which covers East Azerbaijan Province, Sahand TV, forecast rain in the region the following day - shown in the image above.

On the morning of the crash, the state broadcaster's flagship Network One TV and IRINN rolling news channel aired a forecast predicting heavy rainfall.

Also that morning, Tabriz airport, 75kms (47 miles) from the crash site, issued a forecast predicting thunder clouds at 3,500 feet (1,067m) above ground level.

BBC Weather presenter Simon King used to brief RAF air crews ahead of missions in the Middle East. He says: "If I was advising the convoy, it seems it was clearly a disturbed weather day, forecasts suggest the cloud levels would be at a level that would have been covering the mountains, there would have been hill fog, so there would have been a lot of hazards to address."

Bahman Kalbasi
BBC Persian, reporting from New York

Image source, Reuters

Celebrations by opponents of Iran's government stand in sharp contrast to regime loyalists who answered the call of the leader and gathered in at least one square in Tehran praying for the safe return of the President on Sunday night.

As the news of Raisi's demise was confirmed, more cities witnessed sombre public gatherings of those who are sympathetic to the regime.

Some of the more active supporters of the government have taken to social media to shame and even threaten those who dare celebrate.

Moahmamd Mohamadi Tabar, a clergy, posted on X that folks "should pray Raisi has survived and is well, otherwise we will deal a firm blow to those who are giddy".

These threats are not limited to social media posts of regime supporters. The judiciary officials have on Monday reacted to the widespread expressions of joy by issuing warnings that those participating in such behaviours will be prosecuted.

The Islamic Republic will also use all its levers of power to put on a state funeral and mobilise its supporters to turnout as a show of force.

In between the jubilant and mourning is the vast grey area of those who are largely indifferent.

Many Iranians don’t believe much will change for the better with the death of the president because the regime’s leader - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - is the main arbitrator of policy and his forces are the executor of any crackdown on dissent.

Bahman Kalbasi
BBC Persian, reporting from New York

The wide range of emotions and reactions that Iranians have displayed in the past 24 hours reflects the country's deep-rooted political landscape, offering insight into the diverse views held by its 88 million-strong population.

When news of the helicopter crash first broke, the initial outpouring was of shock and disbelief.

As Iranian state media went through their usual playbook of reporting limited and at times contradictory information, speculation ran rife among the public and across social media.

Did government officials know more than they were saying? If the President had died, was it an inside job or yet another accident in the long line of crashes that have come to define Iran’s ageing fleet of aircrafts for decades?

As night fell and the crash site was not found, a shift in public mood was tangible and thoughts turned to the harsh mountain conditions that any survivors would likely face.

Sunday evening's speech by the leader of the regime - where he promised continuity regardless of what happened - was seen by many as the tell-tale sign that the government knew more and were simply biding time until the morning.

This was the moment doubt gave way to certainty that Ebrahim Raisi - the deeply unpopular president with direct involvement in mass executions of political prisoners in the late 80s - had exited the scene.

Floodgates of jubilation and cheer by Iranians who oppose the Islamic Republic opened. There was, and continues to be, a tsunami of jokes and sarcastic commentary on social media too.

Many celebrating the "good news" and posting pictures of protesters killed by regime forces in Iran as a reminder of the legacy of the Raisi’s government.

Pictures show fireworks in several locations in Tehran and on videos people are seen talking about the jubilant mood.

One poster on X wrote: "The mood is so joyful here, the regime may want to consider announcing 3 days of military curfew instead of 3 days of mourning".

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani was named acting foreign minister after the death of his predecessor Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in the helicopter crash.

The 56-year-old is considered close to Iran's ultraconservatives and a member of the inner circle of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He was appointed chief nuclear negotiator of Iran after the late Ebrahim Raisi took office in 2021.

After Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief as part of a landmark deal in 2015, Bagheri accused the administration at the time of bowing to the West.

Following US withdrawal and re-imposition of sanctions in 2018, Bagheri accused the then-President Hassan Rouhani of having "given the West the impression that Iran is very weak".

He later defended Iran's efforts to revive the deal, saying that critics of those efforts "in reality want to deprive the Islamic republic of a key and important tool to guarantee national interests".

West will be keeping tabs on Iran's foreign ministry shake-uppublished at 16:51 British Summer Time 20 May

16:51 BST 20 May

Shabnam Shabani
BBC Persian, reporting from London

With Ali Bagheri Kani now being appointed as the interim foreign minister, his former role as deputy foreign minister becomes vacant.

Unofficial reports have begun identifying Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations headquarters in New York, as a possible and likely successor.

His appointment, and perhaps its public announcement, may not seem necessary on a day when the deceased foreign minister has not been laid to rest, but it is very likely to be one of the most crucial issues that the West is keeping an eye on.

Despite the tragic events in Iran, if Iravani's appointment is confirmed, it may be cautiously evaluated as a positive choice for negotiating parties, potentially offering a more reliable option than his predecessor.

Known as an experienced diplomat, fluent in English, familiar with negotiation etiquette, and involved in successful negotiations in the past, Iravani's role could play a key part in future discussions.

As the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors prepares for its next meeting in two weeks, the focus on the vacant seat of the Iranian nuclear negotiator will intensify.

With unresolved issues between Iran and the agency being at the fore, global powers are closely monitoring the situation as the fate of Iran's nuclear program in the Middle East remains a critical concern amidst ongoing regional tensions and the upcoming elections in the US.

Iran's nuclear file comes into the fore with new interim FMpublished at 16:36 British Summer Time 20 May

16:36 BST 20 May

Shabnam Shabani
BBC Persian, reporting from London

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Though the Iranian president and foreign minister are yet to be laid to rest, their temporary successors have already been introduced.

With the death of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, his political deputy, Ali Bagheri Kani, has been appointed to take over - indicating that the overall policy of the Iranian Foreign Ministry will not change.

Ali Bagheri Kani has faced numerous criticisms, especially at the beginning of his tenure, including for what was perceived as his incompetence and approach to Iran's nuclear file.

However, after settling into his position and engaging with both his European and American counterparts, there appears to be increased coordination between the parties.

Just last week, news of indirect negotiations between Iran and the US in Oman was confirmed, with Bagheri Kani being the diplomat tasked with representing Tehran's interests.

The negotiations, conducted away from the media hype, addressed regional tensions and the issue of Iran's nuclear programme.

According to reports, these negotiations were expected to continue in Geneva in the coming weeks.

Raisi didn't achieve his goals as presidentpublished at 16:21 British Summer Time 20 May

16:21 BST 20 May

Jiyar Gol
BBC Persian, reporting from London

Iranian state media and Raisi's supporters are saying that Ebrahim Raisi was martyred in the line of duty, describing him as the president of the unprivileged and poor.

In 2021, as the head of Iran’s judiciary and a presidential candidate, he promised that if he was elected president, he would fight corruption, tackle inflation, and build millions of affordable houses for poor Iranians.

He had the support of the Supreme Leader and appointed former Revolutionary Guards to key ministerial positions, including the foreign and interior ministries.

Having served as president for just over 1,000 days, however, it has become evident that he didn't achieve any of the goals he ran his presidential campaign on.

Iranians are poorer than they were three years ago. The value of the Iranian currency has dropped severely against the US dollar.

Inflation is at the highest level in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran - and he failed to build the affordable houses he promised.

Image source, Reuters

In the hours since the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was confirmed by authorities, Iranian government supporters have begun pouring into the squares of Tehran for a mourning ceremony, carrying pictures of their late president.

But it's important to note that - at similar events in the past - people have been bussed in from schools and government offices. And many Iranians on social media are celebrating Raisi's death.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Image source, Reuters

The spokesperson for the UN Secretary General (UNSG) has released a statement saying that the UNSG Antonio Guterres is saddened by the death of Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amir Abdollahian and their colleagues.

Members of the UN Security Council also acknowledged the helicopter crash by observing a minute of silence in memory of those killed, AFP news agency reported.

News of Raisi's death evokes a mixed response from Iranianspublished at 15:45 British Summer Time 20 May

15:45 BST 20 May

Jiyar Gol
BBC Persian, reporting from London

Since yesterday, many supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been praying for the president’s safe return.

The state media, by broadcasting and publishing pictures and recordings of President Raisi, have referred to him as a martyr and a champion of the poor people.

However, many Iranians on social media are expressing excitement over his crash and his death.

This is potentially because Raisi was a divisive figure, very loyal and obedient to the Supreme Leader, and rose to prominence through the security and judicial systems. The Supreme leader has since called for five days of national mourning.

In the 1980s, as a prosecutor, Raisi played a significant role in executing more than 5,000 political prisoners. Many of the victims' families expressed mixed emotions; while many hated him, they had hoped he would survive to face justice in an international court for crimes against humanity.