Ebrahim Raisi confirmed dead after helicopter crash

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed dead after search and rescue teams found the wreckage of the helicopter he was travelling in with “no signs of life”.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed dead after search and rescue teams found the wreckage of the helicopter he was travelling in with “no signs of life”.

“President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” a senior official said on Monday.

Iranian state media, including the Tasnim and Mehr news outlets have reported all those on board the aircraft, including the nation’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were killed.

Iran’s government has held an “urgent meeting” following the announcement, with Raisi’s chair draped with a black sash accompanied by a memorial picture.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed dead after search and rescue teams found the wreckage of the helicopter he was travelling in with ‘no signs of life’.

All eyes on how the Middle Eastern superpower deals with the untimely loss of the President. Analysts claim Raisi’s death will immediately open a power vacuum with elections for a new leader expected in a matter of weeks.

“The power struggle between different factions in the Islamic republic is surely going to heighten now,” Middle East analyst Arash Azizi said via CNN.

“They will organize the elections (within) 50 days, so I don’t think you’ll have any a huge surprises there. There might be occasions for popular protests again, as, as there often is when there’s a political crisis.”

The president’s cabinet has remembered Raisi as a “hard-working and tireless” leader and one who “sacrificed his life for the nation”.

The cabinet has also stressed the tragedy “will not be the slightest disturbance” on the stability of Iran.

Drone footage confirms worst fears

New drone footage of the wreckage, captured by Iran’s Red Crescent Society and featured on state media FARS News Agency, revealed the crash site situated on a steep, forested hillside. Little remained of the helicopter except for a blue and white tail.

The chopper went missing after “an accident” in the Jolfa region of the western province of East Azerbaijan during poor weather conditions on Sunday.

“Upon finding the helicopter, there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive as of yet,” state TV reported on Monday about 15 hours after the aircraft went missing.

News agency Reuters reported that the helicopter was “completely burned” in the crash, citing an Iranian official.

Drone footage shows wreckage of crashed helicopter. Picture: Red Crescent via FARS News Agency

The head of Red Cresent reportedly said the situation was “not good” as they approached the site.

“The helicopter has been found. Now, we are moving toward the helicopter,” said Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand.

It comes after a drone sent by Turkey to help the search, which has been hampered by bad weather, identified a source of heat and shared its coordinates with Iranian authorities.

A Turkish Akinci unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) identified a source of heat suspected to be the wreckage of a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Picture: Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images

The president was believed to be on board the helicopter with eight others, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Search and rescue teams had been scouring the remote mountain area despite harsh weather conditions and heavy fog making it difficult, state media in the Islamic republic reported.

Footage on Iranian state television showed Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi (L) on board a helicopter before reports of an accident. Picture: IRINN / AFP

Before the crash site was located, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had urged Iranians to “not worry” about the leadership of the Islamic republic, saying “there will be no disruption in the country’s work”.

Raisi, 63, was very close to the supreme leader and also one of the serious contenders to succeed as Iran’s supreme leader, according to analysis from BBC Persian.

It reported that in the eyes of most Iranians, the supreme leader and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards are the ones who make major political and foreign policy decisions.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi is 63 years old. Picture: AFP

Former UK defence minister Tobias Ellwood told Sky News earlier: “It doesn’t bode well when it takes so long to get in touch with what’s happened.”

He acknowledged the harsh conditions rescuers were working in but added that a lack of information from Iranian state media has fuelled speculation.

“If the president was alive, it would confirm it straight away, but if he has died then they may be delaying any announcement to ensure contingency plans are in place,” he said.

“We will find out in due course, but it is worth stressing that President Raisi is a very, very powerful man, a hardliner.

“There is a huge young population there that are calling for change … there could be huge geopolitical consequences for Iran if the president is announced to be dead.”

BBC Middle East analyst Sebastian Usher said the world was relying on information being released by a number of semi-official news agencies, who often quote different officials that are at odds in what they say.

“What we haven’t had, beyond some general reassurances from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, is a clear statement from the authorities of what they know in black and white,” he said.

“I think many regional and world leaders will be watching the same reports that we’re watching from those agencies and trying to get some indication of what’s happening.”

Iranians pray for President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Valiasr Square in central Tehran. Picture: Atta Kenare / AFP

Expressions of concern and offers to help came from abroad, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Russia, China and Turkey.

Turkey confirmed it was sending 32 mountain rescue specialists to help Iran in the search.

“We are following the incident closely, are in contact and in co-ordination with the Iranian authorities, and we are ready to provide all necessary support,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Mr Erdogan said he was “profoundly saddened” at the news of the missing helicopter.

Russia was sending almost 50 specialist rescuers, a number of all-terrain vehicles and a helicopter, according to Russian state media.

Rescuers heading to the site where the helicopter carrying the president is believed to have crashed. Picture: Azin Haghighi/MojNews/AFP

China, Iran’s largest trade partner and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil, said it was closely monitoring the situation and would “provide all necessary support and assistance” to the rescue operations.

“The Chinese side is deeply concerned about the hard landing of the helicopter in which President Raisi was travelling, and we wish President Raisi and the crew on board safe and sound,” state broadcaster CCTV quoted Beijing’s foreign ministry as saying.

Saudi Arabia, a longtime rival of Iran, also expressed “great concern”.

“We affirm that the Kingdom stands by the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran in these difficult circumstances and its readiness to provide any assistance that the Iranian agencies need,” Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation and the European Union activated its mapping program to help in the effort to find the helicopter.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani expressed gratitude for “governments and international organisations for their sympathy and offer of help in the search and rescue operations.”

The helicopter carrying President Raisi seen taking off at the Iranian border with Azerbaijan after the inauguration of the dam of Qiz Qalasi. Picture: Ali Hamed Haghdoust / IRNA / AFP

What happened to the helicopter?

State television first reported in the afternoon that “an accident happened to the helicopter carrying the president” in the Jolfa region.

“The harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have made it difficult for the rescue teams to reach the accident site,” said one broadcaster, as the massive search effort later continued into the night.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the helicopter “made a hard landing” in bad weather and that it was “difficult to establish communication” with the aircraft.

Raisi’s convoy had included three helicopters, and the other two had “reached their destination safely”, said the Tasnim news agency.

Raisi had visited the northwestern province to inaugurate a dam project together with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, on their common border.

Aliyev said in a post on X that “we were profoundly troubled by the news of a helicopter carrying the top delegation crash-landing in Iran”.

“Our prayers to Allah Almighty are with President Ebrahim Raisi and the accompanying delegation,” he said, also offering “any assistance needed”.

Emergency crews in the Jolfa region East Azerbaijan following news of the possible crash. Picture: Azin Haghighi/MojNews/AFP

Heavy fog may hamper rescue efforts, authorities say. Picture: Azin Haghighi/MojNews/AFP

More than 60 rescue teams using search dogs and drones were sent to the mountainous protected forest area of Dizmar near the town of Varzaghan, the IRNA news agency reported.

Army, Revolutionary Guard and police officers joined the search, authorities said, as TV stations showed pictures of Red Crescent teams walking up a hill in the mist, and rows of waiting emergency response vehicles.

Hours after news of the “accident” broke, state TV networks had ceased their regular broadcasts and started showing footage of massive prayer gatherings breaking out around the country.

Live footage also showed crowds of worshippers reciting prayers in the holy Shrine of Imam Reza in the city Mashhad, Raisi’s hometown.

Iranians pray for President Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Valiasr Square in central Tehran. Picture: Atta Kenare / AFP

Who is Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi?

Raisi has been president of the Islamic Republic since June 2021, succeeding the moderate Hassan Rouhani, for a term during which Iran has faced crisis and conflict.

He took the reins of a country in the grip of a deep social crisis and an economy strained by US sanctions against Tehran over its contested nuclear program.

Iran saw a wave of mass protests triggered by the death in custody of Iranian-Kurd woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022 after her arrest for allegedly flouting dress rules for women.

In March 2023, regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia signed a surprise deal that restored diplomatic relations.

The war in Gaza that began on October 7 sent regional tensions soaring again and a series of tit-for-tat escalations led to Tehran launching hundreds of missiles and rockets directly at Israel in April this year.

Traffic is blocked on a highway in Tehran on May 19 as state TV reported that a helicopter carrying Iran's president was involved in "an accident". Picture: Atta Kenare / AFP

In a speech following Sunday’s dam inauguration, Raisi emphasised Iran’s support for Palestinians, a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“We believe that Palestine is the first issue of the Muslim world and we are convinced that the people of Iran and Azerbaijan always support the people of Palestine and Gaza and hate the Zionist regime,” Raisi said.

Raisi, born in 1960 in northeast Iran’s holy city of Mashhad, rose early to high office. Aged just 20, he was named prosecutor-general of Karaj next to Tehran.

He served as Tehran’s prosecutor-general from 1989 to 1994, deputy chief of the Judicial Authority for a decade from 2004, and then national prosecutor-general in 2014.

His black turban signifies direct descent from the Prophet Mohammed, and he holds the religious title of “hojatoleslam”, literally “proof of Islam”, one rank below that of ayatollah in the Shiite clerical hierarchy.

Originally published as Ebrahim Raisi confirmed dead after helicopter crash