Iran’s President, Others Confirmed Dead in Helicopter Crash
Iranian state media has confirmed the death of its president, Ebrahim Raisi, on Monday after his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country.
The government has not yet issued a confirmation of the leader’s death.
Rescue teams had been scouring the area since Sunday afternoon after a helicopter carrying Raisi, the foreign minister and other officials went missing.
This morning, relief workers located the missing helicopter, with state TV confirming the death of the president.
“The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said Monday, with Mehr news agency also saying he was dead.
Iran’s vice president for executive affairs Mohsen Mansouri posted on X a Koranic verse used to express condolences.
Concerns had been mounting for the 63-year-old ultraconservative after contact was lost with the helicopter carrying him, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and others in East Azerbaijan province on Sunday.
According to the Tasnim news agency, a total of nine people were aboard the aircraft
Iran’s Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand said rescue teams headed towards the site of the crash after locating the aircraft.
“The helicopter has been found. Now, we are moving toward the helicopter,” said Koolivand. “We are seeing the helicopter. The situation is not good.”
"The helicopter has been found. Now, we are moving toward the helicopter,” said Koolivand. “We are seeing the helicopter. The situation is not good.”
“Upon finding the helicopter, there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive as of yet,” state TV reported about 15 hours after the aircraft went missing".
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi reported that the helicopter "made a hard landing" due to poor weather conditions.
He advised the public to obtain their information "only from state television" and to disregard foreign media channels, which Iran considers hostile to the Islamic republic.
