Reuters |
AFP
May 20, 2024
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi gestures during a meeting with Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro at the Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela on June 12, 2023. — Reuters
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at UN headquarters in New York City on April 18, 2024. — AFP/File
This frame grab from video released by the Iranian Red Crescent on May 20 shows a screen display showing a video showing the crash site of the missing helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi in East Azerbaijan province. — AFP
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner long seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a
helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border, officials and state media said on Monday.
The charred wreckage of the helicopter which crashed on Sunday carrying Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six other passengers and crew was found early on Monday after an overnight search in blizzard conditions.
What we know so far:
- Nine people were on board; no official word on cause of crash
- Convoy’s two other copters reached safely, Iranian media says
- Pakistan to observe day of mourning, flag to fly at half-mast
- Rescue teams fought blizzards, difficult terrain during night-long efforts aided by other countries
- First Vice President Mokhber to take over as interim president
Supreme Leader Khamenei, who holds ultimate power with a final say on foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear programme, said First Vice President
Mohammad Mokhber would take over as interim president, the official
IRNA news agency reported.
“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” Khamenei said in a statement. Mokhber, like Raisi, is seen as close to Khamenei.
Under Iran’s constitution, a new presidential election must be held within 50 days.
Footage from Iranian state television showed wreckage scattered on a foggy hillside, while separate images from
IRNA showed Red Crescent workers carrying a covered body on a stretcher. All those aboard the helicopter were killed, a senior Iranian official had earlier told
Reuters.
Killed alongside Raisi were FM Amirabdollahian, known for his fierce anti-Israel sentiment and scepticism of the West, and seven others, including the governor of East Azerbaijan Province and a senior imam from Tabriz city.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani was appointed as acting foreign minister following the death of Amirabdollahian,
IRNA said.
A total of nine people were on board the aircraft, according to
Tasnim news agency. Raisi’s convoy had included three helicopters, and the other two had “reached their destination safely”, said the news agency.
An Israeli official told
Reuters it was not involved in the crash. “It wasn’t us,” said the official, who requested anonymity.
Iranian authorities first raised the alarm on Sunday afternoon when they lost contact with Raisi’s helicopter as it flew through a fog-shrouded mountain area of the Jolfa region of East Azerbaijan province.
The helicopter went down in the Varzeqan region north of Tabriz,
IRNA reported, as Raisi returned from an official visit to the border with Azerbaijan.
Raisi had been at the Azerbaijani border to inaugurate the Qiz-Qalasi Dam, a joint project. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, who said he had bid a “friendly farewell” to Raisi earlier in the day, also offered assistance in the rescue.
State media reported that images from the site showed the US-made
Bell 212 helicopter slammed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word on the cause of the crash. An Iranian official earlier told
Reuters that the helicopter was completely burned in the crash.
Rescue teams fought blizzards and difficult terrain through the night to reach the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province in the early hours of Monday.
“Upon finding the helicopter, there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive as of yet,” state TV reported about 15 hours after the aircraft went missing.
The crash comes at a time of growing dissent within Iran over an array of political, social and economic crises. Iran’s clerical rulers face international pressure over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme and its deepening military ties with Russia during the war in Ukraine.
Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, provoking
Israel’s assault on Gaza that has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, conflagrations involving Iran-aligned groups have erupted throughout the Middle East.
A long “shadow war” between Iran and Israel broke into the open last month with
tit-for-tat exchanges of drone and missile fire.
Raisi, 63, was elected president in 2021, and since taking office has ordered a tightening of morality laws, overseen a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests and pushed hard in
nuclear talks with world powers.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power with a final say on foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear programme, sought to reassure Iranians, saying there would be no disruption to state affairs.
The Iranian government will continue to operate “without the slightest disruption” following Raisi’s death, said a cabinet statement on Monday.
‘Pakistan mourns loss of great friend’
President Asif Ali Zardari “expressed profound shock and sorrow over the tragic death” of his Iranian counterpart.
In a
statement issued by the president’s office, Zardari “emphasised that the Islamic World has lost a remarkable leader who always supported [the] Muslim cause and deeply felt the sufferings of the Muslims globally, particularly the Palestinian and Kashmiri people”.
“Today, Pakistan mourns the loss of a great friend. Just last month, we had the honour of hosting him in Pakistan. During our discussions, I found him very keen on strengthening our bilateral relations,” President Zardari said, recalling Raisi’s
visit to Pakistan last month.
Highlighting that the Iranian president “always had a special place for Pakistan and its people”, Zardari said Raisi will be “dearly missed and fondly remembered in Iran, Pakistan, and the Islamic World for his efforts to enhance relations with regional and Islamic countries”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, extending his deepest condolences and sympathies to the Iranian nation, said Pakistan would observe a day of mourning and the flag would fly at half-mast.
“Had been anxiously following developments regarding the reported crash landing of President Raisi’s helicopter. Was hoping for good news. Alas, this was not to be,” the premier said in a
post on X.
“The great Iranian nation will overcome this tragedy with customary courage,” he added.
In another
post, PM Shehbaz recalled Raisi’s and the foreign minister’s
“historic visit” to the country: “They were good friends of Pakistan.”
Deputy PM Ishaq Dar — also the foreign minister — said he was “truly aggrieved” about Raisi’s death and “deeply saddened to know about the martyrdom of my friend and brother” FM Amirabdollahian.
“In President Raisi’s recent visit to Pakistan, he played [an] instrumental role in solidifying Pakistan-Iran ties,” the foreign minister
said about his Iranian counterpart.
Remembering Raisi, Dar
said: “Today Ummah has lost a great statesman. Pakistan has lost a true friend.”
The Foreign Office (FO) said the government and the Pakistani people were “deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic news of the martyrdom” of Raisi and FM Amirabdollahian.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the martyrs and the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We stand in solidarity with them in this time of National tragedy,” it said in a
statement.
Stating that the two were “esteemed leaders and statesmen”, the FO highlighted that their contributions to reinforcing Pak-Iran ties and regional cooperation would always be remembered.
“Pakistan reiterates its commitment to furthering the bonds of friendship and cooperation with Iran, as envisioned by the late leaders. May the departed souls rest in eternal peace in Jannah,” the statement added.
