LIVE | Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi dies in helicopter crash

means of Iran They announced on Monday the death of the country’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, after the accident of the helicopter that was transporting him in a mountainous region of the northwest, although the death has not been confirmed by official sources. “The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, met with an accident while serving and fulfilling his duty for the people of Iran and has been martyred,” Mehr news agency said, agreeing with reports by others. local media.

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Previously, state television had announced the discovery of the apparatus and pointed out that “no sign showing that the passengers are alive” was detected.

In addition to the president, The Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the provincial governor and the main imam of the region were traveling on the plane.

LOOK: Who was Ebrahim Raisi, the ultraconservative president of Iran who died in a helicopter crash?

The vice president for executive affairsMohsen Mansouri, and the former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarit They published messages of condolences on social networks.

The disappearance of the helicopter on Sunday triggered an intense search operation in “difficult conditions” due to rain and thick fog, said the head of the Red Crescent in Iran, Pirhossein Koolivand.

At around 06:00 local time (02:30 GMT), Koolivand announced the discovery of the remains of the device. “The situation is not good,” he added.

“No disturbance”

The hope of finding the 63 year old presidentelected in 2021, had been diluted throughout the afternoon and evening of Sunday.

The supreme guide of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent a message of calm to the population and assured that the event was not going to cause “any disturbance” in the administration of the nation.

In the holy city of Mashhad, Raisi’s hometown, worshipers prayed in the mosque for the leader’s health, according to images on state television.

The situation is closely followed by the international community given the relevance of Iran in the Middle East, a region shaken by the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, an ally of Tehran.

“We are closely following the information” about the case, said a spokesperson for the United States diplomacy, while the Chinese Foreign Ministry declared itself “deeply concerned.”

Several countries in the area such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Syria and Iraq offered help. Turkey and Russia sent rescue teams and the European Union activated “its CopernicusEMS rapid response mapping service” to facilitate the search.

The helicopter he was traveling in Raisi It was a Bell 212 that was part of a convoy of three aircraft.

The Minister of the Interior, Ahmed Vahidi, evoked a “brutal landing” of the helicopter, but without giving more details.. The other two ships landed safely in Tabriz, northwest Iran.

The government organized an emergency meeting in that city chaired by the first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, who would assume the functions of president in the event of the death of Raisi until the holding of elections in a period of about 50 days.

Ultraconservative and ally of Hamas

Raisi had traveled to the province of East Azerbaijan on Sunday to inaugurate together with the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyeva dam on the border between both countries.

In their joint press conference, Raisi again expressed his support for Hamas against Israel. “We think that Palestine is the first question of the Muslim world,” he declared.

Iran launched an unprecedented attack on April 13 against Israel, with 350 drones and missiles, most of which were intercepted with the help of the United States and other allied countries.

Considered an ultra-conservative, Raisi was elected in June 2021 in the first round in elections marked by a record abstention for presidential elections, and in the absence of major rivals.

He always appears wearing a black turban and dressed in a long religious coat. He succeeded the moderate Hasan Rohani, who had defeated him in the 2017 presidential elections and who, after two consecutive terms, could not run again.

Raisi emerged stronger from the legislative elections held in March, the first elections organized after the protests that shook Iran at the end of 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman arrested for not respecting the country’s dress code.

Born in November 1960, Raisi spent the bulk of his career in the judicial system. Before becoming president, he was the attorney general of Tehran and the country’s attorney general.

For his part, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, 60, was appointed head of Iranian diplomacy by Raisi in July 2021.