The president of Iran is dead along with the country's Foreign Minister and

seven others.

They were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran's mountainous Northwest region.

The country will observe five days of mourning with a burial schedule for tomorrow.

The news comes amid a time of rising tensions in the Middle East

and nbc's

Alice Barr has the latest details.

A

foggy helicopter crash site in northwest Iran new

uncertainty is spreading across the Middle East.

The deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi

and the country's Foreign Minister touching off a mix of prayer and

celebration from those opposed to Raissi's

years of brutal crackdowns on political opposition

state media reporting today that a technical

failure downed the helicopter in mountainous terrain,

killing the two leaders and seven others on board

as they return from inaugurating a dam in Azerbaijan.

A

senior Biden administration official telling NBC news,

there are no signs of foul play.

A

state department spokesman saying that while the US regrets any loss of

that doesn't change

the reality of his record, both as a judge and as the president of Iran,

the fact that he has blood on his hands.

Iran's Vice President stepping in until new elections within 50 days.

Us officials indicating the leadership change

is unlikely to significantly shift Iranian policy

though it opens questions about who will succeed Iran's ultimate authority

leader

Ayatollah

Khamenei.

There is relief that Iran does not appear to be pointing

blame at Israel after the two countries traded airstrikes last month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing a separate

crisis as the International Criminal Court announced today,

it's seeking to arrest him and Israel's Defense Minister

on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity

for civilian attacks and starvation in Gaza.

The ICC also seeking to arrest Hamas leaders for their

brutal October 7 th attack that started the Israel Hamas war

in Washington, Alice Barr

and BC News and President Biden today called it outrageous that the ICC

wants to arrest top Israeli officials insisting

that there is no equivalence between Israel

and Hamas.