![Azin Haghighi FILE - Rescue teams members carry body of a victim after a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, on May 20, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (Azin Haghighi, Moj News Agency via AP, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/908567d9eba64ffc96920e03f9664ce0/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE - Rescue teams members carry body of a victim after a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, on May 20, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (Azin Haghighi, Moj News Agency via AP, File)
![Azin Haghighi FILE - Rescue teams members work at the scene of crash of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, on May 20, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (Azin Haghighi, Moj News Agency via AP, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/aeac87415e8d4bc580de6d75616f0bed/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE - Rescue teams members work at the scene of crash of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, on May 20, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (Azin Haghighi, Moj News Agency via AP, File)
![Ali Hamed Haghdoust FILE - The helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi takes off at the Iranian border with Azerbaijan after President Raisi and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev inaugurated dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, Iran, on May 19, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (Ali Hamed Haghdoust, IRNA via AP, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/7a1f90aec55e4203973e041bd3ae270e/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE - The helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi takes off at the Iranian border with Azerbaijan after President Raisi and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev inaugurated dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, Iran, on May 19, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (Ali Hamed Haghdoust, IRNA via AP, File)
![Vahid Salemi FILE - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi places his hands on his heart as a gesture of respect to the crowd in a ceremony in the southeastern city of Kerman, Iran, on Jan. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/60b2392f185b4091a5ce3af9ad7ae1fb/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi places his hands on his heart as a gesture of respect to the crowd in a ceremony in the southeastern city of Kerman, Iran, on Jan. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
![Azin Haghighi FILE - Rescue teams vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran on May 19, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (Azin Haghighi, Moj News Agency via AP, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/0bcac324eb2b40b08116b31150c5ab31/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE - Rescue teams vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran on May 19, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (Azin Haghighi, Moj News Agency via AP, File)
![Vahid Salemi FILE - A woman holds a poster of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a funeral ceremony for him and his companions who were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday in a mountainous region of the country's northwest, in Tehran, Iran, on May 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/36d405dda2ed47b4b5d5285f59b66edb/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE - A woman holds a poster of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a funeral ceremony for him and his companions who were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday in a mountainous region of the country's northwest, in Tehran, Iran, on May 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
![Vahid Salemi FILE - Iranians attend a funeral ceremony for the late President Ebrahim Raisi and his companions who were killed during a helicopter crash on Sunday in a mountainous region of the country's northwest, in Tehran, Iran, on May 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/f2184aca56ad4ddeb2647102d52deaa9/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE - Iranians attend a funeral ceremony for the late President Ebrahim Raisi and his companions who were killed during a helicopter crash on Sunday in a mountainous region of the country's northwest, in Tehran, Iran, on May 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
![Vahid Salemi FILE - An Iranian woman holds a poster of the late President Ebrahim Raisi during a mourning ceremony for him at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran on May 20, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/717e8150eef84a37acbd73661af2629a/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE - An Iranian woman holds a poster of the late President Ebrahim Raisi during a mourning ceremony for him at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran on May 20, 2024. While the cause of the May 19 crash remains unknown, the sudden death of the hard-line protégé of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exposed the contradictions and challenges facing the country's Shiite theocracy. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)