Goemkarponn Desk
IRAN: Iran President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash, Iranian state media confirmed. “No survivors” were found at the crash site of the chopper that was carrying Raisi, his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollhian and other senior officials.
After hours of searching through mountainous terrain amid inclement weather, rescue teams located the crashed helicopter. “President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash,”
The chopper crashed in Jolfa in the mountainous northwestern region of the country on Sunday. The incident happened as Raisi and others were travelling back from their visit to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.
The next in the line for the presidency is First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, if approved by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Hours after the news of the Iranian President’s helicopter crash shocked the world on Sunday, Iranian state media on Monday said that “no survivors” were found at the crash site of the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi in the country’s northwest.
The Iranian state-run media outlets said Raisi was travelling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and that the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometres northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. IRNA called the area where the incident happened a “forest.”
Earlier Mondy morning, one of Turkey’s Bayraktar Akinci drones found a heat source believed to be the wreckage of the helicopter transporting the leader of the Islamic country. With precision, it has relayed the coordinates to Iranian authorities, intensifying efforts in the ongoing search and rescue operation, Turkish agency Anadolu reported.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power with a final say on foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear programme, sought to reassure Iranians, saying there would be no disruption to state affairs. Iranian state media said bad weather caused the crash and was complicating rescue efforts. State news agency IRNA said Raisi was flying in a U.S.-made Bell 212 helicopter.
The chief of staff of Iran’s army ordered all resources of the army and the elite Revolutionary Guards to be put to use in search and rescue operations.
