A helicopter carrying Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian crashed due to bad weather.
Iranian state media reported that President Ebrahim Raisi died after a plane crashed in an eastern province due to bad weather.
The report came after Iranian Red Crescent rescue workers said they found the wreckage of the helicopter, which was also carrying the country’s foreign minister and other officials, and said there were “no signs of life.”
Rescue teams battled through dense fog, snowstorms and mountainous terrain to reach the wreckage in east Azerbaijan province early Monday, but state television did not reveal the immediate cause of the crash. Raisi was accompanied by Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan province, other officials and bodyguards, state news agency IRNA said.
“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely destroyed in the crash and unfortunately all passengers are believed to have died,” Reuters reported, citing an unnamed Iranian official.
Raisi, 63, was elected president for the second time in 2021 and since taking office has faced tougher ethics laws and anti-government protests sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Martha Amini. It has overseen a bloody crackdown on activism. He took a tougher stance on nuclear negotiations with world powers.
Last month, he ordered an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel after Israel allegedly attacked the Iranian embassy in Damascus, killing 13 people, including the commander-in-chief and his deputy.
Earlier, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei had sought to reassure Iranians, saying there would be no disruption to national politics, but some of them reportedly prayed for Raisi’s safety.
Raisi is a hardliner who once led the country’s judiciary and is considered a disciple of 85-year-old Ayatollah Khamenei.
‘We found it’
State television reported that Raisi’s helicopter had made a “hard landing” near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, when Raisi was on his way to Tehran. I was on my way home. State media later reported the crash site as further east, near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.
Earlier on Monday, Turkish authorities released what they said was drone footage of what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness, calling it a “suspected fire.” [the] the remains of [a] The fire broke out on a steep mountain slope about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iran border, according to the coordinates listed in the footage.
Footage released by IRNA showed what it said was the crash site across a steep valley in the Green Mountains. “It’s there, we found it,” said the soldiers, speaking in the local Azerbaijani language.
Moments later, state television reported in scrolling text on the screen: “There are no signs of life on board.”
It did not give details, but the semi-official Tasnim news agency showed rescue workers using small drones to fly over the site. As they talked among themselves, they could be heard coming to the same conclusion. Footage showed the tail of the helicopter surrounded by burnt debris.
“Tireless”
Under Iran’s constitution, if the president is confirmed dead, the vice president will take over and a new presidential election will be held within 50 days.
State media said First Vice President Mohammad Mokbel had already begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments during Raisi’s absence.
A ministerial statement released on Monday said the Iranian government would continue to operate “without any disruption.”
“We assure our faithful people that through the tireless spirit of Reverend Raisi, the path of service will continue,” he added.
