The crash of their helicopter in the northwest of Iran claimed the lives of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the foreign minister, and several others. He was 63.
The Associated Press reported the deaths, citing state-run news agency IRNA, while Iranian state TV provided no immediate explanation for the incident. Iran’s Press TV acknowledged the killings but did not specify a source. The report is consistent with other Iranian media reports, including Mehr and Tasmin.
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According to The Washington Post, a state television news anchor “choked up” as she presented the news on live television in Tehran shortly before 8 a.m. local time.
Despite the lack of details, a search-and-rescue crew searching for the remains of the crashed helicopter discovered the highly damaged aircraft early Monday morning. However, they reported that they detected “no signs of life” in the region and identified “no survivors,” according to official media.
IRNA stated that the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, as well as other officials and bodyguards, were on board.
Drone footage broadcast by the state-run FARS News Agency and viewed by CNN showed the aircraft’s burnt-out shell, with little remaining beyond its tail. The chopper crashed on a “steep, wooded hillside,” according to the network.
According to IRNA, the governing cabinet “convened an urgent meeting” in Iran after learning of the disaster.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first foreign leaders to offer respect, telling X that he is “deeply saddened and shocked” by Raisi’s terrible death.
One unidentified official previously told Reuters that Tehran was rapidly losing hope that Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and the seven other people on board were still alive, especially given the harsh terrain and freezing conditions in the northern mountains near the country’s border with Azerbaijan, where the helicopter crashed.
“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash; unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” according to the official.
Rescuers were significantly more optimistic just hours before, when emergency crews received a signal from one of the crew members aboard the vessel, prompting the Iranian vice president for executive affairs, Mohsen Mansouri, to inform FARS that the crisis was “not severe,” according to CNN.
IRNA initially referred to the incident as a “hard landing.”
Raisi, dubbed the “Butcher of Tehran” for his role in the deaths of hundreds of Iranian political prisoners, was returning from a diplomatic visit to Azerbaijan when the helicopter crashed Sunday. Adverse weather conditions in the area immediately impeded rescuers, and the dense fog and muddy terrain took hours to locate the site.
Following the incident, Raisi’s official Instagram account asked Iranians to “pray for the well-being of the President and his companions,” prompting thousands to congregate in the streets and elsewhere. The national network even halted normal programming to air a live feed of prayers taking place across the country.
However, after Raisi’s apparent death became public, others openly celebrated, including several who allegedly set off fireworks in the streets.
Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, personally preferred the Iranian president and frequently discussed him as a potential successor.
According to the Associated Press, Iran’s military aircraft fleet is far older than that of many peer nations, and modernization has been difficult due to punitive international sanctions.
