In a tragic incident, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other high-ranking officials died after their helicopter crashed in heavy fog while crossing mountainous terrain in East Azerbaijan, Iranian officials stated on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed condolences and said that India stands with Iran in the hours of grief. According to Iranian state news channel, no one survived the crash, which was initially described as a “hard landing”.
According to the Iranian news agency, IRNA, Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday met his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev and inaugurated Qiz Qalasi Dam jointly built by the two sides. Raisi was travelling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan, some 600 k.m. northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Plane crash in Azerbaijan
“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash… unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” said official. Rescue teams held an overnight search operation in challenging terrain to reach the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province early on Monday.
The search operation intensified after the suspected helicopter wreckage was identified by a Turkish drone, which detected a heat source in the early hours of Monday. Reportedly, the drone shared the coordinates of the possible crash site with Iranian authorities.
Raisi was travelling in US-made helicopter
President Raisi was flying in a US-made Bell 212 helicopter. Following the crash reports, the chief of staff of Iran’s army ordered all resources of the army and the elite Revolutionary Guards to be mobilized for search and rescue operations.
Additionally, in the early hours of Monday, the national broadcaster halted all regular programming to show prayers being held across the country for the missing President.
This tragic incident has left the nation in mourning and has prompted an outpouring of grief and condolences from leaders worldwide. Further investigations are expected to determine the exact cause of the crash.