Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed dead following a helicopter crash in foggy weather in the mountains near the border with Azerbaijan.
AAN TV gathered that the country’s Foreign minister Hossein Amir-abdollahian was among those killed in the unfortunate incident on Sunday.
Alongside Raisi and Amir-abdollahian in Sunday’s fatal crash were the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards.
On Sunday, during the inauguration of a dam in north-western Iran, Raisi emphasised Iran’s support for the Palestinians, declaring that “Palestine is the first issue of the Muslim world”.
He was returning from the visit with Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several other senior figures when their helicopter experienced a “hard landing” in remote and mountainous terrain, state media reported.
Dense fog and heavy rain hindered search efforts, but on Monday, authorities found the crash site and announced that Raisi and everyone else on board in the helicopter had been killed.
The deceased 63 year old Raisi, a prominent figure among conservative and hardline factions in Iranian politics, had been president for nearly three years and was expected to run for re-election in 2025.
He was also seen as a potential successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the 85-year-old supreme leader of Iran. Born in Mashhad, Raisi studied at the seminary in Qom and was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, which holds special significance among Twelver Shia Muslims.
He gained experience as a prosecutor before moving to Tehran in 1985, where he became part of a committee overseeing political prisoner executions, according to human rights organisations.
Raisi served in various influential roles, including as attorney general in 2014 and later leading the Astan Quds Razavi, a wealthy charitable trust.
After an unsuccessful presidential bid in 2017, he was appointed head of the judiciary in 2019 and gained popularity as a corruption fighter.
Raisi was elected president in 2021 amid low voter turnout and the disqualification of many reformist candidates. He was known for his strong stance against Israel and the United States and was a vocal critic during the recent conflict in Gaza.
He supported Iran’s strategic policy of resilience against sanctions and was an ally of the IRGC and the “axis of resistance” groups across the region. He also backed Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war.
