Tehran.- The president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, and the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdolahian, died in a helicopter accident in a mountainous area in the northwest of the country, state television and the official IRNA agency reported this Monday.
“Ayatollah Raisi and his companions lost their lives in the helicopter crash,” Iranian state television reported.
“Ayatollah Raisi, the beloved president of our country, died in a helicopter accident in the Varzeqan region of East Azerbaijan and joined the Supreme Kingdom,” confirmed IRNA.
Hours earlier, the Red Crescent had reported that the helicopter in which Raisí and Abdolahian were traveling had been located “without signs of life.”
Also traveling on the aircraft were the governor of East Azerbaijan, Malik Rahmati, and the leader of Friday prayers in the city of Tabriz, Mohammad-Ali Al-Hashem, as well as an unknown number of crew members.
The IRNA agency reported that after the death of the president, “an urgent Cabinet meeting has been called,” chaired by the first vice president of Iran Mojber, who should assume the presidency according to the Iranian Constitution.
After the announcement of Raisí’s death, condolences began to arrive from senior figures in Iranian politics.
“I offer my condolences for the martyrdom of the President of the Republic, my dear brother the Foreign Minister and other honorable martyrs of yesterday’s painful incident,” former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Instagram.
“To Allah we belong and to Him we will return…”, stated in X the Vice President of Iran for Executive Affairs, Mohsen Mansouri.
The helicopter in which Raisí was traveling disappeared on Sunday when it was returning from the city of Tabriz along with two other devices – which reached their destination without problems – and the official Iranian media reported that it had suffered a “forced landing”, without explaining the causes. .
After the loss of contact, a large device was launched with at least 65 rescue teams, but operations have been affected by bad weather, rain and dense fog in the mountainous area where the incident occurred, he reported. the Red Crescent.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, called on Sunday for calm in the face of Raisi’s unknown whereabouts and assured that “there will be no interruptions in the country’s functions.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered in the cities of Mashad, Qom and Tehran to pray for the well-being of the ultraconservative president, according to images broadcast on state television.
Raisí had inaugurated this Sunday a dam together with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliev, on the border between the two countries, a project that the leaders described as a step forward in bilateral relations after years of tensions.
The ultra-conservative president came to power in 2021, after winning the presidential elections with the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic and was one of the favorites to succeed Khamenei.
During his government, repression against activists, women and critics of the regime has intensified.
