Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain and icy weather, an Iranian official said on Monday. Search teams located the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province.
“President Raisi, the foreign minister, and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” the senior Iranian official told Reuters, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Iran’s Mehr news agency confirmed the deaths, reporting that “all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred.”
“The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, had an accident while serving and performing his duty for the people of Iran and was martyred,” Mehr reported, with other media outlets also corroborating the news.
An Iranian official earlier told Reuters the helicopter carrying Raisi and Amirabdollahian was completely burned in the crash on Sunday. State TV reported that images from the site showed the aircraft had slammed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word on the cause of the crash.
Rescue teams battled blizzards and difficult terrain through the night to reach the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province in the early hours of Monday.
“We can see the wreckage and the situation does not look good,” the head of Iran’s Red Crescent, Pirhossein Kolivand, told state TV. “With the discovery of the crash site, no signs of life have been detected among the helicopter’s passengers.”
Raisi, 63, was elected president in 2021. During his tenure, he ordered a tightening of morality laws, oversaw a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests, and pushed hard in nuclear talks with world powers.
In the wake of the tragedy, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate authority with a final say on foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear programme, sought to reassure Iranians, stating that there would be no disruption to state affairs.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences, saying he was “deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic demise” of Raisi. “His contribution to strengthening India-Iran bilateral relationship will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family and the people of Iran. India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow,” he said in a post on X.
As the nation mourns the loss of its president and foreign minister, the tragic incident has cast a shadow over Iran, with the government now tasked with addressing the leadership void and the ongoing challenges facing the country.
