Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is believed to be dead after a helicopter he was on crashed in the Islamic Republic’s East Azerbaijan province. Iranian state media reported Monday morning local time that there was “no sign of life” at the crash site.
Raisi, 63, had been serving as Iran’s president since August 2021 and was widely seen as a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran.
In this photo provided by Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi takes off at the Iranian border with Azerbaijan after President Raisi and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev inaugurated dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without elaborating. (Ali Hamed Haghdoust/IRNA via AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, Khamenei’s representative to East Azerbaijan, were also on board the helicopter. Iranian state media reported on Sunday that the rotorcraft had suffered a “hard landing.” It wasn’t until hours later that any news about their statuses was given.
Raisi was in the region meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, where the two leaders announced a collaborative dam project.
In this photo provided by the Azerbaijan’s Presidential Press Office, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, left, shakes hands with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev during their meeting in the inauguration ceremony of dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, at the border of Iran and Azerbaijan, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state me …