Thousands of mourners holding portraits of Raisi gathered Monday at central Valiasr Square in the capital Tehran.

Iranians yesterday mourned the death of president Ebrahim Raisi when his helicopter crashed into a fog-shrouded mountain, setting off a period of political uncertainty in the Islamic republic.

The Iranian president -- whose career started in the years after the 1979 Islamic revolution and who is close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- took power in a 2021 election that was followed by turbulent years of protests and tensions.