No survivors were found in the crash, according to Iranian state TV. Iran’s Foreign Minister, the Governor of East Azerbaijan, and the Imam of Tabriz were also on board the helicopter. The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), Pir Hossein Kolivand, stated that no survivors were found at the site where the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed in northwestern Iran.
Challenging Terrain, Crash Site Location Still Unconfirmed
On Monday, rescue workers found a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s Foreign Minister, and other officials, which had apparently crashed in Iran’s northwestern mountainous regions a day earlier. However, no signs of life were reported, according to state media.
Pir Hossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, told state media that rescue workers spotted the helicopter approximately 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) away on Monday at sunrise. He did not provide further details, and the officials had been missing for over 12 hours at the location.
Raisi was traveling in East Azerbaijan province, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of Tehran, near the border city of Jolfa. Later, state TV showed it east of Owzi village, but details remained conflicting. According to a report by the official news agency IRNA, Raisi was accompanied by Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, and other officials and guards.
On Monday morning, Turkish officials released what they described as drone footage showing a fire in the forest, which they suspected to be the “helicopter wreckage.” The coordinates placed the fire on a steep hillside approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iran border. In Tehran, people were seen kneeling by the roadside, crying over the accident.
IRNA mentioned that the area is also mountainous. State TV broadcast images of SUVs racing through the forested area, stating that poor weather conditions, including heavy rain and wind, were causing obstructions.
Rescue workers were seen moving through fog and mist. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also urged the public to pray but emphasized that the Iranian government’s operations would continue regardless of the circumstances. According to the Iranian constitution, if the president dies, Ayatollah Khamenei assumes the role of acting president, and new presidential elections must be announced within 50 days.
State media reported that Vice President Mohammad Mokhber had already begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi’s absence. Raisi, a 63-year-old hardline leader who previously headed the country’s judiciary, is seen as a supporter of Khamenei. Some analysts have suggested that he could potentially succeed the 85-year-old leader upon Khamenei’s death or resignation.
Raisi had visited the Azerbaijan border on Sunday morning to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. This was the third dam built by the two countries on the Aras River. The visit occurred despite the cold relations between the two nations, which included a gun attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran in 2023 and Azerbaijan’s diplomatic ties with Israel, viewed by Iran’s Shiite theocracy as its greatest enemy in the region.