Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash

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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash, shocking the nation and causing uncertainty at a time of rising tensions in the Middle East.

In a statement, Iran’s cabinet said: “The hard-working and tireless President…” . . sacrificed his life for the nation”.

The state news agency IRNA had previously cited “local sources” at the crash site in northwestern Iran and confirmed “the martyrdom of the president and his companions.” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian also died in the crash.

Politicians and officials took to social media to quote a Quranic verse used for the deceased. Mohsen Mansouri, vice president for executive affairs, wrote on X in Arabic: “We belong to God and to him we return.”

The death of Raisi, a conservative hardliner seen as a possible successor to the country’s supreme leader, 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, comes at a difficult time for Iran. The economy is struggling in the face of US sanctions, while the country is also part of heightened tensions in the Middle East. After Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th, a years-long shadow war between Iran and Israel broke out openly.

According to the Tasnim news agency, which has close ties to the elite Revolutionary Guards, the helicopter carrying the president crashed on Sunday in a remote and mountainous region in the Arasbaran forest near the border with Azerbaijan.

Rescue teams struggled for hours to reach the crash site, with fog and snow hampering efforts.

The president and his entourage were returning from a visit to Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, where they attended the inauguration of a dam along with the president of neighboring Azerbaijan.

First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will take over Raisi’s duties. Iran’s Cabinet held an extraordinary meeting on Monday chaired by Mokhber, state media reported.

In a statement, the Cabinet said the services of “a hero and servant of the nation and a loyal companion of the leadership (Ayatollah Khamenei)” will continue and promised that there will be “not the slightest disruption” in the country’s leadership.

Raisi, 63, was elected in 2021 in a vote with the record lowest turnout in the country’s history. He was expected to seek re-election next year. According to the Iranian constitution, elections will now take place within 50 days.

The president showed unconditional loyalty to the Ayatollah and maintained close relations with the Revolutionary Guards. After decades of tense relations between Iranian presidents and the Supreme Leader over the extent of their powers, Raisi was the first to end those tensions.

Raisi traveled in a helicopter purchased by the deposed Pahlavi dynasty in the 1970s. Due to US sanctions, the Islamic Republic has been unable to modernize its civil and military aviation industries.

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed the US for Raisi’s death, saying it “sanctioned the sale of aircraft and aviation parts to Iran and does not allow the Iranian people to enjoy aviation rights.” He added: “These will be added to America’s list of crimes against the Iranian people.”