Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have died in a helicopter crash on May 19th in East Azerbaijan. The helicopter crash occurred due to challenging mountainous terrain and icy weather. The helicopter carrying the President and other high level officials crashed on Sunday May 19th and was found burned in a forest.
According to the report, rescue teams traversed treacherous terrain and blizzards overnight in order to reach the wreckage in the province of East Azerbaijan early on Monday.
Monday morning, the Iranian Red Crescent Society’s leader, Pir Hossein Kolivand, told the media that rescuers spotted the helicopter from a distance of approximately 2 kilometres.
The incident transpired during the return journey from a trip to the East Azerbaijan province of Iran subsequent to the joint inauguration of a dam in that locality. This is the third dam that has been constructed on the Aras River.
After the news of the death broke, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his condolences on X(formerly Twitter).
In the 2021 presidential election of Iran, Raisi emerged victorious amidst the lowest voter turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic. Partially as a result of his purported participation in the mass execution of thousands of political detainees in 1988, following the bloody Iran-Iraq war, the United States has imposed sanctions on Raisi.
The Associated Press reports that Iran has hampered international inspections and enriched uranium to virtually weapons-grade levels under Raisi. In addition to providing Russia with arms during its conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Iran has launched enormous missile and drone assaults against Israel during its war against Ukraine. It has also continued to provide arms to proxy groups in the Middle East, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi militants in Yemen.
A hard-liner who formerly presided over the country’s judiciary, President Ebrahim Raisi was considered Khamenei’s protégé. Certain analysts believed that he might have succeeded the 85-year-old leader in the event of the demise or resignation of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
-Namit Pandey