Iran’s president declared dead after helicopter crash

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was found dead after a helicopter crash, officials confirmed to multiple media outlets.

Raisi, 63, was discovered in a burning wreckage on Monday, May 20, along with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, 60, and six others. The update comes after an hours-long search for the officials after their helicopter crashed in northwest Iran, according to the Associated Press and BBC.

President Raisi’s helicopter crashed in heavy fog in a mountainous region of the region on Sunday, May 19, initially making it difficult to find its location after the crash.

Drone footage released by Turkish authorities on Monday morning showed a fire burning in a steep valley 19 kilometers south of the border between Azerbaijan and Iran. According to the AP, officials suspected it was “the debris of a helicopter.”

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The Red Crescent Society found “no signs of life” and the helicopter was “completely burnt out” when they reached the crash site. The Independent reported.

Others killed in the helicopter crash included the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and three crew members, state news agency IRNA reported, according to the AP. The cause of the crash is not yet clear.

Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, will now serve as president until the country’s next elections, several media outlets say.

Five days of mourning were declared in Iran following the death of the president by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei, 85, expressed his condolences for President Raisi on X (formerly Twitter), who writes: “This unfortunate incident occurred during an attempt at service; “The entire period of responsibility of this noble and selfless person, both during the short term of the presidency and before, was entirely spent in #continuous efforts in the service of the people, the country and Islam.”

“Raisi knew no tiredness. Due to this tragic incident, the Iranian nation lost a sincere and valuable servant. For him, the goodness and contentment of people, which indicates God’s satisfaction, was more important than anything else, so his anger at the ingratitude and ridicule of ill-wishers did not stop him from working day and night to improve and improve things .”

Raisi became Iran’s eighth president after winning the 2021 election. According to the AP, he is being sanctioned by the US for his ties to the mass executions of political prisoners in the 1988 Iran-Iraq War.

He leaves behind his wife Jamileh Alamolhoda and two daughters.