President Ibrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdullahian and several others were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran, the country’s state TV confirmed.
Drone footage of the crash site was released on its social media. It shows the wreckage of President Rice’s helicopter.
President Ibrahim Raisi died in an accident while performing his duties for the people of the country.
Red Crescent footage shows the wreckage of the helicopter trailing over the mountain. Rescuers said there was no sign of life at the scene.
However, the Iranian government has not confirmed the information of their death so far. An Iranian official said the crashed helicopter carrying Raisi was completely burnt.
The helicopter was reportedly carrying Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian and Governor of East Azerbaijan Province Malek Rahmati and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-Hashem, spokesman for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the province.
Rescue workers scrambled to find the helicopter carrying Ibrahim Raisi after it crashed. The rescue operation was delayed due to foggy hostile weather and remoteness of the site. Later, the rescue team identified the crash site of the helicopter. A large-scale search operation began there.
According to the country’s news agency IRNA, a team of more than 40 rescuers joined the operation. The crash site was searched with sniffer dogs and drones.
A spokesman for the Red Crescent said the bad weather made it difficult to carry out a quick rescue operation. After crashing on Sunday night, the helicopter was found on Monday morning. Iranian Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Kollivand said the crashed helicopter had been found. The situation is not good.
President Raisi, 63, was returning from attending the inauguration of an Iranian reservoir near the border with Azerbaijan. His helicopter crashed while making an emergency landing in the Varjakon area of East Azerbaijan province. The incident took place in the Dijma forest between the towns of Varjakon and Zolfa. Also on board the helicopter were the governor of East Azerbaijan province, Malek Rahmati, and the representative of Iran’s supreme leader there, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem. According to local media reports, Raisi was heading towards the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran.
Iran has a terrible record of plane crashes. One of the reasons for this is that the country cannot afford the equipment needed to service the aircraft. Iran has been under some form of sanctions since the 1979 revolution. Since then, nearly 2,000 Iranians have lost their lives in plane crashes.
The accident happened at a time when Iran is in a state of war with Israel and the United States over the Gaza war. Iran recently attacked Israel for the first time.
