Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian Killed In Helicopter Crash, Official Confirms

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian have been declared dead after the helicopter carrying him and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday, Reuters reported citing Iranian officials.

"President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash," the news agency quoted the senior Iranian official as saying while asking not to be named considering the sensitivity of the matter.

An Iranian official earlier told Reuters that the helicopter carrying Raisi and Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian was completely destroyed in a crash on Sunday. State TV reported that images from the crash site showed the aircraft had slammed into a mountain peak, though the cause of the crash has not been officially determined.

Rescuers on Monday found a helicopter that was carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials that had apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran the day before, though "no sign of life" was detected, state media reported.

As the sun rose Monday, rescuers saw the helicopter from a distance of some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles), the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, told state media. He did not elaborate and the officials had been missing at that point by over 12 hours.

Iran's Mehr news agency confirmed the deaths, reporting that "all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred".

Accompanying Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, and other officials and bodyguards, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Raisi won Iran's 2021 presidential election, which had the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic's history. He is sanctioned by the US for his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, following the Iran-Iraq war.

Under Raisi's leadership, Iran enriches uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels and restricts international inspections. Iran has supplied Russia with arms for its war in Ukraine and launched a significant drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Iran continues to support proxy groups in the Middle East, such as Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah. Meanwhile, the country has faced ongoing mass protests for years.

The most recent protests erupted in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for allegedly not wearing a hijab as required by authorities. The resulting security crackdown killed more than 500 people and led to over 22,000 detentions. In March, a United Nations investigative panel concluded that Iran was responsible for the "physical violence" that led to Amini's death.

What Happens Next?
According to the Iranian constitution, the vice first president assumes the presidency if the president dies, with the approval of Supreme Leader Khamenei. A new presidential election would then be held within 50 days. State media reported that First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber had already begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi's absence.

Raisi, 63, a hard-liner who formerly led the judiciary, is seen as a protégé of Khamenei. Some analysts suggest he could succeed the 85-year-old leader upon Khamenei's death or resignation.

On early Sunday, Raisi was at the Azerbaijan border to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. This dam is the third constructed by the two nations on the Aras River. The visit took place despite strained relations between the countries, including tensions over a 2023 gun attack on Azerbaijan's Embassy in Tehran and Azerbaijan's diplomatic ties with Israel, which Iran considers its main regional adversary.