Mourners attend a burial ceremony of the late Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi in Mashhad, Iran.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Iran’s army has so far found no evidence of criminal activity in a helicopter crash that killed the country’s president Ebrahim Raisi and seven others, state media reported.

The 63-year-old died on May 19 after his helicopter went down in the country’s mountainous northwest while returning from a dam inauguration on the border with Azerbaijan.

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“No bullet holes or similar impacts were observed on the helicopter wreckage,” said a preliminary report by the general staff of the armed forces published by the official IRNA news agency late Thursday.

“The helicopter caught fire after hitting an elevated area,” it said, adding that “no suspicious content was observed during the communications between the watch tower and the flight crew.”

Raisi’s helicopter had been flying on a “pre-planned route and did not leave the designated flight path” before the crash.

The report said the wreckage of the helicopter had been found by Iranian drones early on Monday but the “complexity of the area, fog and low temperature” hindered the work of search and rescue teams.

The army said “more time is needed” to investigate the crash and that it would announce more details later.

Raisi was laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday concluding days of funeral ceremonies in some of Iran’s major cities including the capital attended by throngs of mourners.

Among the people killed in the incident was foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who was also buried on Thursday in the town of Shahre Ray south of the capital.

Rescuers in Iran were racing on Sunday to find the crash site of a helicopter that was carrying President Ebrahim Raisi to find out the fate of all those on board. Below is brief outline of what Iran’s constitution says happens if a president is incapacitated or dies in office:

* According to article 131 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution, if a president dies in office the first vice president takes over, with the confirmation of the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state.

* A council consisting of the first vice president, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary must arrange a election for a new president within a maximum period of 50 days.

Raisi was elected president in 2021 and, under the current timetable, presidential elections are due to take place in 2025.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)