Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Confirmed Dead In Chopper Crash: Report

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were reported dead on Monday a day after their helicopter made a “hard landing”. The helicopter, which was part of a convoy, crashed after it got into difficulties in heavy fog in the north of the country. The Iranian President was heading to the city of Tabriz, in the northwest of Iran, after returning from an Iran-Azerbaijan border area when the incident happened. 

Iran’s Mehr news agency reported: “Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were martyred in the helicopter crash that occurred on Sunday.” Local news agency Tasnim, too, said no survivors were found at the crash site. “Wreckage of helicopter carrying Iranian President found; no sign of survivors,” Tasnim reported.

“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash … unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” an official told Reuters. 

Following the crash, rescuers fought blizzards and difficult terrain through the night to reach the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province in the early hours of Monday. 

A Turkish drone, Akinci UAV, identified a source of heat suspected to be the wreckage of a helicopter and shared the coordinates of the possible crash site with Iranian authorities, news agency Anadolu said on X. 

Akinci UAV identifies the source of heat suspected to be the wreckage of helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi and shares its coordinates with Iranian authorities pic.twitter.com/0tZtMc5oaP

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) May 20, 2024

Following the detection of the heat source, the Iranian Red Crescent announced that they found the location of the helicopter’s wreckage saying that the situation was “not good”. 

There is “no sign” of life coming from President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter, state TV said.

Raisi, 63, was elected as President of Iran in 2021 and since taking office has ordered a tightening of morality laws.