The Islamic Republic of Iran’s president and foreign minister are presumed dead after a helicopter crash on Sunday while they were traveling in the eastern part of the country.
The helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian crashed in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province after encountering extremely thick fog.
Raisi was a hardliner who helped oversee the mass execution of thousands political prisoners in 1988 after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering it. There have been widespread allegations in Iran that Raisi only came to power because of a rigged election.
Abdollahian was also a hardliner who had close ties to numerous Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO), including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Palestinian groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TV that they were “on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog.”
He said that the rescue crews had a difficult time locating and reaching the crash site due to the weather conditions, the rugged terrain in the region, and the loss of light.
The officials were returning from a trip to Azerbaijan early on Sunday where they attended an inauguration of a new dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
“Today, after bidding a friendly farewell to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, we were profoundly troubled by the news of a helicopter carrying the top delegation crash-landing in Iran,” said Aliyev. “Our prayers to Allah Almighty are with President Ebrahim Raisi and the accompanying delegation. As a neighbor, friend, and brotherly country, the Republic of Azerbaijan stands ready to offer any assistance needed.”
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.
