Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister were killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain and icy weather, an Iranian official said on Monday, after search teams located the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province, Ednews reports via Reuters.
"President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash," the senior Iranian official told Reuters, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Iran's Mehr news agency confirmed the deaths, reporting that "all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred".
An Iranian official earlier told Reuters the helicopter carrying Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was completely burned in the crash on Sunday.
State TV reported that images from the site showed the aircraft slammed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word on the cause of the crash.
****23:55
Türkiye's Disaster Management Agency (AFAD) announced on Sunday that the country is sending a night vision search and rescue helicopter and 32 rescuers following a request from Iran, Ednews reports citing Anadolu Agency.
"Iran has requested a night vision search and rescue helicopter from Türkiye" through the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the agency said on X.
"32 search and rescue mountaineers from the Van and Erzurum branches of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and 6 vehicles are en route to the area," it added.
Also, "15 mountaineer search and rescue personnel from Ankara, Diyarbakir, and Konya are on standby," the agency said and added it is closely monitoring the situation for further developments.
****20:35
An unnamed Iranian official told Reuters that the lives of the president and his foreign minister were “at risk” following a “crash”, Ednews reports via The Guardian.
So far, Iranian state media had been reporting that Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter was forced to make a “hard landing”.
***17:23
The helicopter with Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi on board made a hard landing, Ednews informs via IRNA.
According to the agency, the incident occurred in the city of Varzigan in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan.
On board were also the Imam of the Tabriz Friday Mosque Muhammad Ali Hashim, Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Governor of East Azerbaijan Province Malik Rahmati and several other passengers.
Rescue teams are trying to get to the site, but there is no information about the condition of the Iranian president.
To note, Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River.
