This handout picture provided by the Iranian president's office shows President Ebrahim Raisi chairing a cabinet meeting in Tehran on April 2, 2024. (AFP)
Iranian media announced on Monday morning the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in yesterday's helicopter accident in northwest Iran.
This announcement ushers in a period of political uncertainty in Iran, a major player in the Middle East, a region shaken by the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
The news of the president's death was reported by Iran's main news agencies and newspapers, pending a statement from authorities after the discovery of the helicopter wreckage at dawn. Television on Monday morning is broadcasting religious songs and showing photos of the president.
"The great spirit of Iran's popular and revolutionary president has joined the supreme realm," stated the official Irna agency, saluting the "martyrdom" of the victims.
It added that the government would issue a "statement" later in the morning.
International Concern
The hope of finding the 63-year-old president, elected in 2021, and the eight other passengers alive had gradually diminished during the night.
Among them were the governor of East Azerbaijan province, the region’s chief imam, as well as the president's security chief and three crew members.
The helicopter went missing early Sunday afternoon while flying over a rugged and wooded area in difficult weather conditions with rain and thick fog.
The wreckage was found at dawn, and rescuers quickly indicated that there were "no signs showing that the helicopter passengers" were alive, according to state television.
The progress of the search was closely followed internationally, particularly in the United States, Russia, China, and neighboring countries.
"We are closely monitoring the information," a State Department spokesman in Washington said Sunday, while Beijing expressed being "very concerned" after the helicopter's disappearance.
Mr. Raisi had been president of the Islamic Republic for nearly three years.
Considered an ultraconservative, he was elected on June 18, 2021, in the first round of a poll marked by a record abstention rate for a presidential election and the absence of significant competitors.
Always wearing his black turban and a long religious coat, he succeeded the moderate Hassan Rouhani, who had defeated him in the 2017 presidential election.
He was supported by the main authority of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who on Sunday evening called on Iranians to "pray" and "hope that God brings the president and his companions back into the arms of the Nation."
"The Iranian people should not worry, there will be no disruption in the administration of the country," he assured.
The Constitution provides that, in the event of death, the president is replaced by the first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, pending the holding of a presidential election within 50 days.
Foreign Aid
At Tehran's request, Moscow had announced sending fifty rescue operation specialists, all-terrain vehicles, and a helicopter to Iran. President Vladimir Putin spoke with the Iranian ambassador to Russia, according to the official Tass news agency.
Several Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait) have expressed their support to Tehran and offered to help in the search efforts, along with Syria and Iraq.
Turkey deployed 32 rescuers and a night-vision drone that was operational during the night, while the European Union announced it had activated, at Iran's request, "the CopernicusEMS rapid response mapping service" to support Tehran in the search efforts.
President Raisi was aboard the aircraft with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of the province, and the region's chief imam, according to the Irna agency.
The aircraft, a Bell 212, was part of a convoy of three helicopters transporting the presidential delegation, two of which landed safely in Tabriz, the major city in the northwest, from where Mr. Raisi was to return to Tehran.
Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi mentioned the possibility of a "hard landing" of the presidential aircraft, without providing details.
State television broadcast images of worshippers praying for the president's health in several mosques, including the holy city of Mashhad (northeast), Mr. Raisi's hometown.
Ultraconservative
Mr. Raisi visited East Azerbaijan province on Sunday, where he inaugurated a dam with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries.
During a joint press conference, he reiterated his support for Hamas against Israel. "We believe that Palestine is the primary issue of the Muslim world," he declared.
Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on April 13 with 350 drones and missiles, most of which were intercepted with the help of the United States and several other allied countries.
Mr. Raisi emerged strengthened from the legislative elections held in March, the first national vote since the protest movement that shook Iran in late 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman arrested for not complying with the Islamic Republic's strict dress code.
Born in November 1960, Mr. Raisi spent most of his career in the judiciary, serving as Tehran's general prosecutor and later the country's general prosecutor.
Mr. Raisi was on the US blacklist of sanctioned Iranian officials for "complicity in serious human rights violations," accusations dismissed as null and void by Tehran authorities.
Aged 60, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was appointed head of Iranian diplomacy by Mr. Raisi in July 2021.