Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash, as confirmed by Iranian state media. The crash left no survivors, including Raisi, his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and other senior officials. After hours of searching through the mountainous terrain amid inclement weather, rescue teams located the crashed helicopter. An official told Reuters that “President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash.”
Iranian state TV reported that there were “no signs of life” at the crash site. The helicopter went down in Jolfa, a mountainous northwestern region of the country, on Sunday while Ebrahim Raisi and his delegation were returning from a visit to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.
In response to the tragedy, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced that First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber would serve as the country’s acting president until elections are held. Additionally, a new presidential election will be called within 50 days. Furthermore, Khamenei declared five days of public mourning to honor those who perished.
Early on Monday, footage released by the state-run IRNA showed the purported crash site of President Raisi’s helicopter. The helicopter was located across a steep valley in a green mountain range. In the video, soldiers speaking in the local language could be heard saying, “There it is, we found it.”
Meanwhile, Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent, stated that the bodies of those killed in the crash had been transported to the city of Tabriz. According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News, search and rescue operations have now concluded.