State media confirm Iran's president, Raisi dead in a helicopter accident

According to Iranian official media, President Ebrahim Raisi passed away on Monday following a helicopter crash in the nation’s mountainous northwest.

The leader’s passing has not yet been confirmed by the government.

Since Sunday afternoon, when a chopper carrying Raisi, the foreign minister, and other officials vanished, search and rescue teams have been combing the area.

Relief workers found the missing chopper early on Monday, and state TV announced the president’s death. State television declared on Monday that Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, “the servant of the Iranian nation, has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” and Mehr news agency confirmed his death.

Photos of Raisi were shown on state television, with a man’s voice reciting the Koran playing in the background.

Mohsen Mansouri, Iran’s deputy president for executive affairs, shared a verse from the Koran on X along with his condolences.

Extremely conservative

Concerns have been mounting for the 63-year-old ultraconservative since Sunday, when the helicopter carrying him, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other passengers lost touch in the region of East Azerbaijan.

Nine persons in all were on board the flight, the Tasnim news agency reported.

Rescue teams located the aircraft and then headed towards the crash scene, according to Iran’s Red Crescent chief, Pirhossein Koolivand.

“The helicopter has been found. Now, we are moving toward the helicopter,” Koolivand remarked. “We are seeing the helicopter. The situation is not good.”

About fifteen hours after the plane vanished, state TV said, “Upon finding the helicopter, there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive as of yet.”

Iranian media, such as the Fars news agency, released photos taken by a drone that seemed to show the helicopter wreckage.In the Jolfa area of East Azerbaijan province, “an accident happened to the helicopter carrying the president,” according to a Sunday afternoon report from state TV.

The chopper “made a hard landing” in bad weather, according to Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi.

He advised citizens to avoid foreign media outlets that Iran views as antagonistic to the Islamic republic and to get their information “only from state television.”

Three helicopters were part of Raisi’s convoy; the other two, according to the Tasnim news agency, “reached their destination safely.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, advised Iranians “not to worry” about the Islamic republic’s leadership, stating that “there will be no disruption in the country’s work.” Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Russia, China, and Turkey were among the foreign countries that expressed concern and offered assistance. Additionally, the European Union aided in the search effort by activating its fast reaction mapping service.

Vast search operation

Following the event, Vice President Mohammad Mokhber called an emergency meeting of Iran’s cabinet, according to the IRNA news agency.

According to officials, the search included Army, Revolutionary Guard, and police personnel. TV stations displayed images of Red Crescent workers ascending a hill in the fog while lines of rescue cars stood by.At a time when regional tensions are running high due to the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7 and has attracted the attention of other armed groups in the Middle East, foreign nations were intently monitoring the hunt.

“We are closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister,” a US State Department spokesperson stated, adding, “we have no further comment at this time.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an American official stated that US President Joe Biden had been briefed about the tragedy.

A Servant Leader

Since 2021, when US sanctions over Iran’s disputed nuclear program severely damaged the country’s economy, Raisi has served as president, having replaced the centrist Hassan Rouhani.

Raisi had been to the northwest province to join President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in the groundbreaking of a dam project along their shared border.