Posted on 05/20/24
| News Source: i24
Tasnim news agency, associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), announced deaths of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Monday morning.
They were killed on Sunday afternoon after the helicopter they were traveling in suffered a hard landing due to inclement weather, and apparently went up in flames.
Intense search-and-rescue efforts, impeded by fog and rain, continued throughout the night to find the crash site in Iran's East Azerbaijan province, with diminishing hopes of finding signs of life. According to Iranian Red Crescent Society, all passengers of the flight died in the incident. Rescuers found "no signs" anybody survived the crash, the organization stated on national television.
Aside from the Iranian president and the foreign minister, the passengers list included governor of East Azerbaijan province, Malik Rahmeti, and Ayatollah of the Tabriz province, Ali Hashim.
The helicopter crashed in mountainous area the city of Jolfa, which lies on the border with Azerbaijan, about 375 miles northwest of the Iranian capital Tehran. The head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami traveled to the area to oversee the efforts.
On Sunday evening Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei convened a meeting of top officials in Tehran, telling the public to pray for the president's health and safety while assuring Iranians there would be no disruption to the running of the government.
Iran's leadership approved that the vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, would ascend to the presidency. A special council consisting of Mokhber, the head of the judiciary, and the speaker of the Iranian parliament will be responsible for organizing elections for a new president within 50 days.
Ebrahim Raisi was elected president in 2021. The 63-year-old hardline cleric was considered close to the Ayatollah, and his coming to power consolidated conservatives' control over all aspects of the Iranian government.
The former judiciary chief was nicknamed "The Butcher of Tehran," for his role in secret tribunals that sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death in the late 1980s. His election was considered a blow to moderate and reform movements in the country.
Raisi's term was wracked with challenges, from spiraling economic turmoil to massive anti-government protests following the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran's "modesty police." Raisi also took a hard stance on the revival of a nuclear deal with the U.S. and international powers, with negotiations breaking down in September 2022. Meanwhile, he oversaw a surprise rapprochement with neighboring regional power Saudi Arabia in a deal brokered by China in March 2023.
More recently, Iran and its network of terror groups was involved in the war with Israel, with Tehran providing backing for Hamas and coordination with its primary proxy Hezbollah. Raisi supported the decision to launch the country's first direct attack on Israel on April 13, and downplayed the severity of Israel's counterattack that followed.
On the morning of the helicopter crash, Raisi reiterated Iran's solidarity with Palestinians, saying "Palestine is the first issue of the Muslim world."