Iran: Iranian state media has confirmed that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had died in a helicopter crash in hazy weather in the mountains close to the Azerbaijani border. Among the dead was Hossein Amir-abdollahian, the foreign minister.
“All passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred,” the Mehr news agency in Iran said.
Concerns have been mounting for the 63-year-old ultraconservative since Sunday, when the plane lost communication with it while flying over foggy mountains in northwest Iran.
Later, footage of drone operators scouring the forested slopes surfaced online, and drone photos of what seemed to be debris were disseminated by Iranian media outlets, including Fars news agency.
“The helicopter has been found. Now, we are moving toward the helicopter. We are seeing the helicopter. The situation is not good,” said Koolivand.
Later, footage of drone operators scouring the forested slopes surfaced online, and drone photos of what seemed to be debris were disseminated by Iranian media outlets.
The incident took place approximately 375 miles (600 km) northwest of Tehran, the capital of Iran, close to the city of Jolfa, which shares a border with Azerbaijan. The president was on a trip across the province of East Azerbaijan in Iran.
The Iranian army’s chief of staff ordered the deployment of all army resources, including the elite Revolutionary Guards, and more than 70 rescue teams, including search dogs and drones, according to the Red Crescent.
Raisi, 63, was the head of the nation’s court for a while. Viewed as the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s apprentice, several observers have speculated that he would succeed the 85-year-old leader.
The Iranian presidential election of 2021 was won by him despite the lowest turnout in the country’s history. Because of his role in the mass execution of thousands of political detainees in 1988 at the close of the horrific Iran-Iraq war, Raisi is subject to sanctions imposed by the United States.
According to Iran’s constitution, in the event that Raisi’s death is certified, vice president Mohammad Mokhber would become the presidency. Following the event, Mokhber called an emergency meeting of Iran’s cabinet, according to the IRNA news agency. According to the constitution, presidential elections must be scheduled in less than fifty days.
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