EBRAHIM RAISI, IRAN’S PRESIDENT, DIES IN HELICOPTER CRASH AGED 63

Mon 20 May 2024:

• Iran’s President Raisi has been confirmed dead after a helicopter carrying him and other officials crashed in a mountainous and forested area of the country in poor weather.
• Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will assume powers after Raisi’s death.
• According to the Iranian Constitution, in case of the president’s death or incapacity, the first vice president will take over until an election is held within a maximum period of 50 days.
• Also killed in the crash was Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian, an experienced diplomat who helped secure the recent rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
• Tributes and condolences are pouring in from regional and international leaders.
• Several countries in the Middle East have expressed support to Iran and offered help to locate the helicopter, which was missing for hours after the crash.
• The search was hampered by severe fogging and rain near the crash site, in the Dizmar forest, nestled between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azerbaijan Province.
• Paul Beaver, an aviation expert and former helicopter pilot, said the cloud cover, fog, mist and low temperature must have contributed to the crash of the Iranian president’s aircraft.

 

Rescue teams being sent to spot detected by Turkish drone

Turkish Akinci UAV identified source of heat suspected to be wreckage of helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi and shared its coordinates with Iranian authorities.

The Fars News Agency cited the head of the Red… pic.twitter.com/qD5yhKrJl8

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) May 20, 2024

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has died after a helicopter carrying him and other officials crashed in a mountainous and forested area of the country in poor weather.

The 63-year-old, a figure representing conservative and hardline factions in Iranian politics, was president for nearly three years, and appeared on track to run for re-election next year.

A former chief justice, Raisi was touted as a potential successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the 85-year-old supreme leader of Iran.

Iranian President Raisi dies with other occupants of helicopter

The first footage of the presidential helicopter as seen on a drone screen. Nothing is left but the tail.

Raisi and Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian, along with others who were on board the helicopter that crashed,… pic.twitter.com/OcM1f7KnI2

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) May 20, 2024

Raisi was born in Mashhad in northeastern Iran, a religious hub for Shia Muslims. He underwent religious education and was trained at the seminary in Qom, studying under prominent scholars, including Khamenei.

Also like the supreme leader, he wore a black turban, which signified that he was a sayyid – a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, a status with particular significance among Twelver Shia Muslims.

The official announcements of President Raisi’s de

ath at the Imam Reza shrine pic.twitter.com/bo7LrbNg2A

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) May 20, 2024

Raisi became president in 2021 amid low voter turnout and wide disqualification of reformist and moderate candidates, and appeared to have secured a firm footing for re-election.

Like other top Iranian officials, his harshest rhetoric was reserved for Israel and the United States, followed by their Western allies.

Who are the other officials killed in the helicopter crash?