Iranian President Dies in Helicopter Crash

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister, and other officials were declared dead following a helicopter crash, Iranian state media announced on Monday.

In response to Raisi’s death, the Iranian government convened an emergency meeting. Afterward, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as acting president. Khamenei also declared five days of national mourning.

The crash has left Iran without two of its critical diplomatic figures amid heightened regional tensions due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. State media confirmed the deaths of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, and other officials who were on board.

While no immediate cause for the crash was given, state media shared images purportedly showing the wreckage of the helicopter, which crashed in foggy conditions in a mountainous area of northern Iran. The officials were returning from an event near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.

The news prompted immediate international reactions. Pakistan’s government announced a day of mourning, and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to Khamenei, as reported by Russian state media.

Rescue teams had been searching intensively for the helicopter. The Iranian Red Crescent Society president confirmed that search and rescue teams had identified the wreckage. On Sunday, Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi mentioned a “hard landing” of the president’s helicopter, and rescue operations were underway.

IRNA reported that two passengers had communicated with rescue workers. Twenty rescue teams, including drones and dogs, were dispatched, and the Iranian military deployed troops to assist.

Raisi was elected in 2021 and is a relative hard-liner

Ebrahim Raisi, a former cleric and judge, was elected president in 2021. Known as a relative hard-liner, Raisi had committed to upholding Iran’s nuclear deal with the US despite former President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in 2018.

Last month, Raisi celebrated an Iranian attack on Israel following an airstrike in Damascus that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran blamed Israel for the attack, but Israel did not claim responsibility. Israel reported intercepting 99% of the missiles and drones fired during Iran’s retaliatory strike.

While the president serves as the head of the Iranian government, the country is ultimately ruled by the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who sets national policies, oversees their implementation, and controls the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and police forces.

According to Iran’s constitution, if the president dies in office, the first vice president takes over with the supreme leader’s approval, and a new election must be held within 50 days.