Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian are confirmed dead after a helicopter crash in a mountainous region of the country’s northwest region which was experiencing thick fog at the time.
“President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
The governor of East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards were also believed to be on board, Sky News said.
BREAKING: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has died after the helicopter he was travelling on crashed in a mountainous area in the northwest of Iran, according to reports.@AliBunkallSky has the latest.
Full story: https://t.co/a9YbktBO57
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602 pic.twitter.com/n08l5JKnCf
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 20, 2024
The spokesperson for Iran’s Guardian Council – who oversee elections and legislation in the country – said the death of President Ebrahim Raisi was “a great loss for the Iranian nation.”
A spokesman for the Council Hadi Tahan Nazif said Iran’s constitution would ensure the affairs of the country will not be disrupted.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani expressed “great sadness and great sorrow” in a statement, while Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, offered “deepest condolences and sympathies to the Iranian nation on this terrible loss”.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow”, while Lebanon has announced three days of mourning over the death.
The state broadcaster IRNA shared what they said was the last-known photo of the helicopter which went missing on Sunday.
“The loss of Raisi — a conservative hardliner and protege of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — is expected to sow further uncertainty in a country already buckling under significant economic and political strain, with tensions with nearby Israel at a dangerous high,” CNN reported.
“His death comes at a fraught moment in the Middle East, with war raging in Gaza. Under Raisi, Iran’s hardline leadership has faced significant challenges in recent years, convulsed by youth-led demonstrations against clerical rule and grim economic conditions,” their analysis commented.
In April, Iran took the unprecedented decision to launch a drone and missile attack on Israel, however a retaliation caused little damage and efforts by diplomats appeared to have diffused tensions which might led to all out war