Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi, has been confirmed dead in a helicopter crash that occurred in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran, following reports by Iranian news outlets.
Reports say rescuers on Monday found the helicopter conveying the Iranian president and others, including the country’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian and seven senior officials.
Tragedy struck barely weeks after Iran launched a drone-and-missile attack on Israel as a reprisal to a deadly strike on its diplomatic compound in Damascus.
Raisi, 63, became president in what was observed as historically uncompetitive election in 2021. He was before becoming the country’s president the chief justice, and he presided over a period of intensified repression of dissent in a nation overburdened by youth-led protests against clerical rule.
Iran was thrown into confusion Sunday as search and rescue teams scoured a fog-shrouded mountain area after President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter went missing in what state media described as an “accident”.
According to reports, fears intensified for the ultraconservative after contact was lost with the aircraft carrying him as well as Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and others in East Azerbaijan province.
Earlier, amidst the confusion generated about the whereabouts of the president, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a nationally televised address appealed to the people of Iran “not worry” about the leadership of the Islamic republic, saying “there will be no disruption in the country’s work”.
He was quoted further as saying, “We hope that Almighty God will bring our dear president and his companions back in full health into the arms of the nation,” he said as Muslim faithful prayed for Raisi’s safe return.
Before the final report of the confirmation of the death of the nations president and few key state officials, there were expressions of concern at different levels and offers to help from abroad, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Russia, and Turkey, as well as from the European Union which activated its rapid response mapping service to aid in the search effort.
Also earlier , the state television had first reported that, “an accident happened to the helicopter carrying the president” in the Jolfa region.
“The harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have made it difficult for the rescue teams to reach the accident site,”
Iran’s Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand told state TV the area of the accident “has yet to be identified” and that the situation remained “difficult”.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the helicopter “made a hard landing” in bad weather and that it was “difficult to establish communication” with the aircraft.
He urged people to get their information “only from state television”, and not listen to foreign media channels Iran deems hostile to the Islamic republic
Raisi’s convoy had included three helicopters, and the other two had “reached their destination safely”, said the Tasnim news agency.
The IRNA news agency reported that, more than 60 rescue teams using search dogs and drones were sent to the mountainous protected forest area.
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