Iranian President, FM killed in helicopter crash

Shafaq News / Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the foreign minister, and others were found dead at the site of a helicopter crash after an hours-long search through a foggy, mountainous region in the northwest, Mehr News Agency reported.

The Iranian President was returning from the inauguration ceremony of a joint border dam with Azerbaijan, where he had met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev earlier on Sunday.

Mehr reported, "All passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred."

"The helicopter was completely burned in the crash," an Iranian official reported to Reuters

State TV reported that images from the site showed the aircraft slammed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word on the cause of the crash.

Notably, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was also aboard President Raisi's helicopter, alongside Mohammad Ali Al-Hashem, representing Iran's Supreme Leader in East Azerbaijan province, and Malek Rahmati, the governor of East Azerbaijan, along with the helicopter's crew.

Iran's Red Crescent head Pirhossein Kolivand announced early Monday the discovery of the wreckage of the helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi in East Azerbaijan province, northeast Iran. “With the discovery of the crash site, no signs of life have been detected among the helicopter's passengers,” Kolivand told state TV.

Rescue teams fought blizzards and difficult terrain through the night to reach the wreckage in the early hours of Monday.