Iranian President Raisi, Foreign Minister found dead in helicopter crash

TEHRAN: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister are dead as helicopter wreckage was found in the mountainous terrain of Dizmar forest, an Iranian official said on Monday after search teams located the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province.

“President Raisi, the foreign minister, and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” the senior Iranian official said. Raisi and his companions were returning from an event with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev when the crash happened.

The officials include Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, a Representative of the Iranian supreme leader in East Azerbaijan Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the Head of the presidential guard Mehdi Mousavi, the helicopter’s pilot, co-pilot, and crew.

Iranian President died — Raisi (centre) visited the site of Qiz Qalasi, the third dam jointly built by Iran and Azerbaijan on the Aras River, just hours before the helicopter crash [Iranian Presidency via AFP]

Tehran Times confirmed the deaths, reporting that “all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred”.

An Iranian official earlier said the helicopter carrying Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was completely burned in the crash on Sunday.

State TV reported that images from the site showed the aircraft slammed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word on the cause of the crash.

Paul Beaver, an aviation expert and former helicopter pilot told Al Jazeera that the cloud cover, fog, mist, and low temperature must have contributed to the crash of the Iranian president’s aircraft.

A former chief justice, Raisi was touted as a potential successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the 85-year-old supreme leader of Iran.

After the demise of the Iranian President, Vice President of Iran Mohammad Mokhber will assume powers after Raisi’s death.

According to the Iranian Constitution, in case of the president’s death or incapacity, the first vice president will take over until an election is held within a maximum period of 50 days.