Iran President, Others Died In Helicopter Crash – State Media
The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi who was involved in a helicopter crash on Sunday has been confirmed by the state media.
The state media noted that Raisi died on Monday after his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country.
The government has not yet issued a confirmation of the leader’s death.
Osun Defender reports that rescue teams had been scouring the area since Sunday afternoon after a helicopter carrying Raisi, the foreign minister and other officials had gone missing.
But early Monday, relief workers located the missing helicopter, with state TV saying the president had died.
“The servant of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said Monday, with Mehr news agency also saying he was dead.
State television broadcast photos of Raisi, with the voice of a man reciting the Koran playing in the background.
Iran’s vice president for executive affairs Mohsen Mansouri posted on X a Koranic verse used to express condolences.
A total of nine people were on board the aircraft, according to Tasnim news agency.
Iran’s Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand said rescue teams headed towards the site of the crash after locating the aircraft.
“The helicopter has been found. Now, we are moving toward the helicopter,” said Koolivand. “We are seeing the helicopter. The situation is not good.”
“Upon finding the helicopter, there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive as of yet,” state TV reported about 15 hours after the aircraft went missing.
Iranian media including Fars news agency shared drone images of what appeared to be the wreckage of the helicopter.
State TV first reported Sunday afternoon that “an accident happened to the helicopter carrying the president” in the Jolfa region of East Azerbaijan province.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the helicopter “made a hard landing” in bad weather.
He urged people to get their information “only from state television”, and not listen to foreign media channels Iran deems hostile to the Islamic republic.
Raisi’s convoy had included three helicopters, and the other two had “reached their destination safely”, said the Tasnim news agency.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranians to “not worry” about the leadership of the Islamic republic, saying “there will be no disruption in the country’s work”.
