Iranian state media said that Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the foreign minister, and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi were pronounced dead in a helicopter accident on Monday.
Other top officials were on the chopper, but as of 8 a.m. local time, no survivors had been located at the crash site, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency, which is sponsored by the state.
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Earlier, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society informed IRNA that search and rescue teams had found the location of Raisi’s downed helicopter. The crash occurred as Raisi, Amir Abdollahian, and other senior officials were flying back from an event close to the Iran-Azerbaijan border, in a mountainous area of northwest Iran.
According to IRNA, Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi declared on Sunday that the president’s chopper had made a “hard landing” and that the search and rescue effort was under progress.
“A number of rescue teams are en route to the location, but it could take some time to get there given the poor visibility and weather. Vahidi stated, “The work is under control.”
“Contacts have been made with the president’s entourage, but due to the mountainous terrain, establishing communication is challenging. We are hopeful that the rescue teams will arrive at the incident site promptly and provide further details,” he stated. Two of the passengers on the aero plane spoke with the rescue personnel, according to IRNA.
Rescue crews conducted a thorough search for the Helicopter.
IRNA further reported that the Iranian army had sent personnel to aid with the rescue operation, in addition to the twenty rescue teams—including drones and dogs—that had been dispatched to the location.
Video footage of rescue crews deployed to the scene following the helicopter’s “hard landing” was uploaded by the Fars News Agency.
The Iranian president, Mohammad Aliyev, was sat next to Raisi during the dedication of a dam on their shared border earlier in the day, according to a photo shared on the X account of the Iranian government.
Raisi’s Instagram page posted a request for prayers for both himself and his fellow passengers’ wellbeing.
In an X post, Iran’s top leader, Ali Khamenei, wrote, “We hope Almighty God will return the respected, esteemed President and his entourage to the arms of the nation.” Khamenei went on to say that despite the current circumstances, the administration will continue to run.
Raisi is a rather hardline politician that was elected in 2021.
Raisi, a former judge and clergyman, won the presidency in 2021. Even when the previous president, Donald Trump, decided to back out of the nuclear accord in 2018, Raisi declared upon taking office that Iran will uphold its end of the bargain.
Even still, Raisi is thought to be a harder liner than Hassan Rouhani, the last president of Iran.
After an airstrike in Damascus resulted in the deaths of seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members, President Raisi commended Iran’s previous month’s attack on Israel. Iran attributed the airstrike to Israel, although Israel did not acknowledge this. Israel reported intercepting 99 percent of the missiles and drones Iran launched in the subsequent counterattack.
Iran’s supreme leader, Khamenei, rules the nation; the president serves as the head of state. The Council on Foreign Relations reports that Iran’s supreme leader sets national policies, supervises their implementation, and commands both the police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to a news website, Iran’s supreme leader must approve the first vice president’s succession plan if the president passes away while in office. Then, fifty days must pass before a new election is held.
Lost in the Fog: The Search for Iran’s President
Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, was allegedly aboard the chopper when it crashed on Sunday due to dense fog. Rescue crews are still looking for the wreckage.
After a dam opening with the head of state of Azerbaijan, the president & foreign minister took flight over the country’s northwest highlands.
The fog, according to an official from Iran’s Emergency Services, is making air rescue missions “impossible.” The 46 rescue personnel, eight ambulances, drones, and sniffer dogs have all been delayed down by the country’s frontier with Azerbaijan’s isolated and rocky terrain. The region’s low temperatures and a lot of rain were also mentioned by the local media.
The interior minister acknowledged on state-run television that the president’s convoy’s chopper had to make “a hard landing.”
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has stated, “Several rescue teams are heading to the site, but the fog and adverse weather conditions are limiting visibility.” “There has been communication with the president’s entourage, but due to the mountainous terrain, which complicates establishing contact, we are hopeful that the rescue teams will arrive at the incident site promptly and provide further details.”
The president’s health status remains undisclosed. Nevertheless, an unnamed official informed Reuters that the president’s life is “at risk,” adding, “We remain hopeful, yet the information emerging from the crash site is quite alarming.”
Iran’s Deputy President for Executive Affairs stated, “Two passengers from the flight have made contact with rescue teams, suggesting that the accident was likely not severe.” As soon as the incident was reported, physicians in emergency medical teams were dispatched to the scene.
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