Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash, state media confirm

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and others were found dead at the scene of a helicopter crash on Monday after an hours-long search in a misty mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported. Raisi was 63.

The crash comes as the Middle East continues to be unsettled by the war between Israel and Hamas, which saw Raisi, under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, launch an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel just last month. Under Raisi, Iran has enriched uranium closer to weapons-grade levels than ever before, further escalating tensions with the West as Tehran also supplied bomb-carrying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine and to armed militia groups across the region.

Meanwhile, Iran has faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over its struggling economy and women’s rights – making this moment all the more sensitive for Tehran and the country’s future.

State television did not give an immediate reason for the crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. Among the dead was 60-year-old Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.

With Raisi were Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, state news agency IRNA reported.

Early Monday morning, Turkish authorities released drone footage that appeared to show a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be helicopter wreckage.” According to coordinates listed in the footage, the fire was located on a steep mountainside about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border.

Footage released by IRNA early Monday showed what the agency described as the crash site beyond a steep valley in a green mountain range. Soldiers speaking in the local Azerbaijani language said: “There it is, we found it.”

Khamenei himself called on the public to pray on Sunday evening.

“We hope that God Almighty will return the dear President and his colleagues to the arms of the nation in full health,” Khamenei said, eliciting an “Amen” from the faithful he addressed.

However, the Supreme Leader also emphasized that the Iranian government’s business would continue in any case. According to the Iranian constitution, if the president dies with Khamenei’s approval, Iran’s vice president would take office and new presidential elections would be called within 50 days. State media reported that First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber had already received calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi’s absence.

Raisi, 63, a hardliner who formerly headed the country’s judiciary, is seen as Khamenei’s protégé and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after Khamenei’s death or resignation.

Raisi won the 2021 Iranian presidential election, a vote with the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic. Raisi is being sanctioned by the US for, among other things, his role in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

Under Raisi, Iran is now enriching uranium to near weapons levels and obstructing international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war against Ukraine and launched a massive drone and missile attack on Israel as part of its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It has also continued to arm proxy groups in the Middle East, such as the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, mass protests have been raging in the country for years. The most recent case involved the death in 2022 of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had previously been arrested for allegedly not wearing a hijab or headscarf, in keeping with the authorities’ policy. Months of security crackdowns following the demonstrations left more than 500 people dead and over 22,000 arrested.

In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death.

The crash came as Iran took off under Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel last month and has enriched uranium closer to weapons-grade levels than ever before.

Iran is also struggling with this Years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over a moribund economy and women’s rights – making this moment all the more sensitive for Tehran and the country’s future as the war between Israel and Hamas heats up the entire Middle East.

Raisi was in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam together with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third built by the two nations on the Aras River. The visit came despite strained relations between the two nations, including over a gun attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran in 2023, and despite Azerbaijan’s diplomatic ties with Israel, which sees Iran’s Shiite theocracy as its main enemy in the region.

“Azerbaijan is ready to offer any assistance needed,” Aliyev said in a post on X. “We were deeply disturbed by the news that a helicopter carrying the top delegation crashed in Iran.”

Iran flies a large number of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain spare parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raisi, 63, is a hardliner who formerly headed the country’s judiciary. He is considered a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from office.

Raisi won the 2021 Iranian presidential election, a vote with the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic. Raisi is being sanctioned by the US for, among other things, his role in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

In 2022 He told “60 Minutes.”“ that the sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump and maintained by President Biden are “tyrannical.”

“The new administration in the US claims that it is different from the Trump administration,” Raisi told Lesley Stahl. “They said it in their messages to us. But we haven’t seen any changes in reality.”

Under Raisi, Iran is now enriching uranium to near weapons levels and obstructing international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war against Ukraine and launched a massive drone and missile attack on Israel as part of its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It has also continued to arm proxy groups in the Middle East, such as the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.