Iran’s president is believed dead after Iranian media agencies reported that “no survivors” were found at the crash site of a helicopter carrying him and eight others.
President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were among the senior officials on board the downed helicopter.
Drone footage of the wreckage taken by the Red Crescent and carried on state media FARS News Agency showed the crash site on a steep, wooded hillside, with little remaining of the helicopter beyond a blue and white tail.
- What may happen next: As president of Iran, Raisi is the second most powerful individual in the Islamic Republic’s political structure after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian Constitution mandates, in the case of the death of the President, the first vice president shall assume, with the approval of the Supreme Leader, the powers and functions of the president.
- Analysis: The crash comes at an especially fraught moment in the Middle East, with war raging in Gaza and weeks after Iran launched a drone-and-missile attack on Israel in response to a deadly strike on its diplomatic compound in Damascus. Domestically, Iran’s religious clerics are faced with youth-led protests against worsening economic conditions following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s notorious morality police.
- About the helicopter: The president and eight others were likely traveling on an old Bell 212 helicopter that began operating in the late 1960s, according to CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton. He told CNN’s Paula Newton that the difficulty in obtaining spare parts could have played a factor in the crash.
- Raisi’s helicopter was carrying 9 people when it crashed
- Nine people were on the helicopter that crashed in northwest Iran on Sunday, including three officials, an imam and flight and security team members, Iran’s Tasnim news reported.
- The IRGC-run media outlet, Sepah, reported the nine included:
- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
- Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian
- Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati
- Tabriz’s Friday prayer Imam Mohammad Ali Alehashem
- Other passengers include a pilot, co-pilot, crew chief, head of security and another bodyguard
