This is a delicate time for Iran. President Raisi was the second most important man in Iran, after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

His death, now confirmed, will have far-reaching consequences.

Although Khamenei has tried to reassure the country in recent hours, the regime will know this is a perilous moment that must be handled carefully.

Live updates – Iranian president killed in crash

There are mechanisms to protect the regime in events like this and the Revolutionary Guard, which was founded in 1979 precisely for that purpose, will be a major player in what comes next.

In the immediate term, vice-president Mohammed Mokhber will assume control and elections will be held within 50 days.

Mokhber isn’t as close to the supreme leader as Raisi was, and won’t enjoy his standing, but he has run much of Khamenei’s finances for years and is credited with helping Iran evade some of the many sanctions levied on it.

Raisi’s successor will most likely be the chosen candidate of the supreme leader and certainly another ultra-conservative hardliner – a shift back to the moderates is highly unlikely.

Likewise, we shouldn’t expect any significant change in Iran’s foreign activities or involvement with the war in Gaza. It will be business as usual, as much as possible.

However, after years of anti-government demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, this might be a moment for the protest movement to rise up and take to the streets again.

Read more:
Who was hardliner Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi?
‘Butcher of Tehran’ had fearsome reputation – many will fear instability
Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi wins landslide victory

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Islamic State may seek to take advantage

There are also many dissident groups inside Iran, including an off-shoot of Islamic State – they might seek to take advantage of this situation.

Raisi became president in 2021 at the second time of asking and only with a turnout of 41%, the lowest since the 1979 revolution.

He was not a universally popular figure and many inside Iran will celebrate his death.

Consequences for supreme leader

Longer term, Raisi’s death will have consequences for the supreme leader.

He was considered one of the two frontrunners to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamanei on his death – the other being Khamanei’s son Mojtaba.

For religious and conservative Iranians, Raisi’s death will be mourned; for many though, it will be the passing of a man who had blood on his hands.

Scarlett Johansson has said she was “shocked” and “angered” after OpenAI allegedly recreated her voice without her consent for a new ChatGPT system.

The actress released a statement where she personally criticised the company’s CEO Sam Altman for insinuating she was the voice named ‘Sky’ by posting the word ‘her’ on X, a reference to a film where she voiced an AI which a human fell in love with.

“Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system,” the 39-year-old Oscar nominee said.

“He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people.”

She went on to say that eventually for personal reasons she declined his offer then, nine months later, her attention was drawn to how much the “Sky” voice sounded like her.

“When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference,” Johansson said.

“Mr Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word “her” – a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human.

“Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there.

“As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire legal counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr Altman and OpenAI, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.”

“In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity. I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.”

On Monday OpenAI released a statement saying it would “pause” the use of a ChatGPT voice after users noticed it sounded like the actress.

OpenAI said: “We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky.

“We are working to pause the use of Sky while we address them.”

Read more:
How the chaos at OpenAI has unfolded
Snapchat flagged in nearly half of child abuse imagery crimes in past year

The artificial intelligence (AI) company offers five voices that can speak generated answers through its ChatGPT service.

OpenAI earlier denied it intentionally copied Johansson and said it believed “AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice”.

The New York Times sued OpenAI at the end of last year over allegations it, and its biggest investor Microsoft, unlawfully used the newspaper’s articles to train and create ChatGPT.

The suit alleges that the AI text model now competes with the newspaper as a source of reliable information and threatens the ability of the organisation to provide such a service.

A woman has died after a dog attack in a house in east London – with police seizing two XL bullys from the property.

The Metropolitan Police said the victim was a woman in her 50s and the attack happened in Hornchurch on Monday afternoon.

“Police were called to Cornwall Close at around 1.12pm… to reports of a woman attacked by a dog,” a force spokesperson said.

“The woman was treated by medics from London Ambulance Service, but sadly she was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Due to the threat posed, armed officers attended. After assessing the situation, officers were able to safely seize two dogs.

“These were registered XL bully dogs and prior to officers’ arrival had been contained inside a room in the house. They did not leave the house at any time during the incident.

“The family of the woman, who was the owner of the dogs, are being supported by officers.”

London Ambulance Service sent crews, an incident response officer and a helicopter to the house.

From 1 February, it became a criminal offence to own the XL bully breed in England and Wales without an exemption certificate.

Read more from Sky News:
Parents will ‘never forgive’ nursery worker who killed baby girl
Taxi drivers contacted over missing 23-year-old man

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Anyone who owns one of the dogs must have had the animal neutered, have it microchipped and keep it muzzled and on a lead in public, among other restrictions.

The government move to ban XL bullys followed a series of attacks on people.