Iranian state media said Monday that President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others were found dead at the scene after several hours of searching in a mountainous, fog-shrouded region in the country’s northwest.
This is what is known so far:
Who was on board the helicopter and where were they going?
The helicopter was carrying Raisi, Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, according to state news agency IRNA.
Raisi was returning on Sunday from a trip to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev when the accident occurred in the Dizmar forest, in the Iranian region of East Azerbaijan, under circumstances that were unclear.
IRNA said a total of eight people had died, including three crew members of the Bell helicopter, which Iran acquired in the early 2000s. Iran is short of parts for aircraft, which often fly without safety checks, due to Western sanctions. For this reason, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tried to blame the United States for the incident.
The United States had not yet commented on Raisi’s death.
How was the search operation?
Iranian officials have said mountainous, forested terrain and thick fog hampered search and rescue operations, which began Sunday. Iranian Red Crescent president Pir-Hossein Koulivand said 40 search teams were on the ground in the area despite “difficult weather conditions.”
Bad weather made it “impossible to conduct aerial searches” using drones, Koulivand said, according to IRNA.
How was the crash site found?
Early Monday, Turkish authorities published what they described as drone images that appeared to show a fire in an uninhabited area that they “suspected to be the remains of a helicopter.”
Coordinates shown in the video placed the fire about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iran border, on the side of a steep mountain.
Images published on Monday by IRNA showed what the agency described as the scene of the accident, facing a steep valley in a green mountain range. In the video, soldiers could be heard speaking in the local Azeri language saying “there he is, we found him.” Shortly after, a text on the state television screen indicated that “there are no signs of life of the people on board.”
How could Raisi’s death affect Iran?
Raisi was considered a protégé of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a possible successor to his position within the country’s Shiite theocracy.
According to the Iranian Constitution, if the president dies, the country’s first vice president—in this case, Mohammad Mokhber—would become president. Khamenei announced on Monday the appointment of Mokhber as acting president until new elections were held.
What has been the reaction internationally?
When news of the search operation first broke, countries including Russia, Iraq and Qatar issued formal statements expressing concern about Raisi’s condition and offered to assist in rescue operations.
Saudi Arabia, traditionally Iran’s rival although the two countries have recently grown closer, also expressed its concern in a statement and said it “stands with Iran in these difficult circumstances.”
Condolences began pouring in after Iran confirmed there were no survivors of the crash. Neighboring Pakistan announced a day of mourning and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X that his country “stands with Iran in this moment of grief.” The leaders of Egypt and Jordan also conveyed their condolences, as did Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilhan Aliyev said he and his government were “deeply shocked.” Raisi was returning on Sunday from the Iranian border with Azerbaijan, where he had inaugurated a dam with Aliyev before the incident.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conveyed his condolences. Russian President Vladimir Putin described Raisi as “a true friend of Russia” in a statement released by the Kremlin.
There was no immediate official reaction from Israel. Last month, following an Israeli attack on an Iranian consular building in Damascus that killed two Iranian generals, Tehran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel. Most were shot down and tensions between the two countries appear to have calmed down since then.
Latest images of the president of Iran
The post below shows a video of the latest activity carried out by the president of Iran.
It translates: “The footage shows some of the final moments of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi before losing his life in a helicopter crash on May 19, 2024. Raisi was heading to the city of Tabriz in northwest Iran. Iran, returning from a dam opening ceremony on the border with Azerbaijan. When the plane crashed in dense fog, the crash killed eight people. “Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced five days of mourning following Raisi’s death.”
Who succeeds the president?
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhberwas named on Monday as acting president of the Islamic Republic following the death of the president, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash in the northwest of the country.
Mokhber, 68, has played a more discreet role than other politicians in the Shiite theocracy, but constitutional norms placed Mokhber on the front line after Raisi’s death. He was scheduled to serve as acting president about 50 days before a mandatory presidential election.
The country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced Mokhber’s appointment in a message of condolence over Raisi’s death in Sunday’s crash. The helicopter was found on Monday in the northwest of the country.
Source: With information from AP/AFP
