Iranian President Ibrahim Raise and the country's foreign minister were found and confirmed

dead today hours after their helicopter crashed in fog, leaving the Islamic Republic without

two key leaders as extraordinary tensions

grip the wider Middle East.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah al-Ilica-Maini, who has the final say in the Shiite Theocracy,

quickly named a little-known vice president as caretaker

until a new election and insisted the government was in control.

But the deaths mark yet another blow to a country beset by pressures at home and abroad.

Special correspondent Raza Saya in Tehran has the latest.

It was a crash felt across the Middle East. In Iran's mountainous northwest a dense fog thinned

out this morning, revealing the helicopter's mangled tail and shards of debris wedged between

the trees.

After an hours long search, rescue teams found no survivors.

Among the eight people on board,

Iran's heartline president and the Supreme Leader's

protege Ibrahim Raisei, as well as the country's

foreign minister, Hussein Amir Abdullahiyan.

Two of Iran's most senior figures killed.

This is a serious incident for all of us.

A stunning loss that threatens instability,

but today the country's newly appointed caretaker, first Vice President Mohammed

Mohawk bear, delivered a message of reassurance.

...