Deservedly or not, the Iranian government’s suffered its share of high-profile casualties over the past several years.

It’s sometimes useful to distinguish between the “government” and the “regime,” although that’s obviously a distinction without a difference in most cases, given that even “moderate” government officials are in the regime maintenance business.

The losses you hear and read about are mostly on the regime side. Iran’s lost a lot of generals, most notably the general, Qassem Soleimani, in what it’s fair to call the most famous US drone strike in history. But also scores of others since, including Mohamad Reza Zahedi, who was incinerated in a Damascus diplomatic compound on April 1, pushing Iran and Israel to the brink of a direct war.

On Sunday, Iran suffered two grievous losses on the government side. Ebrahim Raisi and Hossein Abdollahian were on an official visit somewhere in Iranian Azerbaijan, when the helicopter they were traveling in disappeared into the foggy, mountainous abyss.

There were three helicopters in the convoy, two of which arrived safely at their destination. Initially, there was no word on the whereabouts of the third, but after a 12-hour search and rescue mission, the crash site was located. There was no evidence of life. Iran’s president and foreign minister are dead.

“The esteemed president [was] aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to fog,” Iran’s interior minister said.

If protocol’s followed, Mohammad Mokhber, Raisi’s first VP, will become president until the country can conduct an election.

Mokhber ran Setad for years. Setad — officially the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order or, EIKO — was sanctioned by Janet Yellen in 2021, along with Mokhber. Treasury described EIKO as “a juggernaut” with stakes “in nearly every sector of the Iranian economy.”

A foreign policy hawk and a dedicated disciple of Khamenei, Raisi was known internationally as a serial violator of human rights and an unflinching adherent to the strict moral codes and severe ideology that define the theocracy’s authoritarianism. He was widely viewed as a potential successor to Khamenei, who asked Iranians to “pray” for Raisi while assuring the public there’d be no security or governance lapses regardless of what ultimately befell his protégé.

Although Khamenei and the Guards exercise full control over the country, Raisi’s demise adds yet another dramatic chapter to an already tense Mideast thriller.

Raisi’s lifelong career in the theocracy was defined by an uncompromising approach to dissent which manifested, at times, in egregious human rights abuses including, infamously, thousands of summary executions in 1988.

While president, Raisi presided over a morality crackdown that sparked widespread protests beginning in 2022 following the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody. Scores were killed, including dozens of Iranian security personnel, during Raisi’s ultimately successful efforts to put down the demonstrations.

When asked, in 2021, about his role in the 1988 executions, Raisi said, “If a prosecutor has defended the security of the people, he should be praised.”