Iranian search crews have reported there are “no signs of life” found at the helicopter crash site of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
An Iranian official told Reuters, “President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash … unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead.”
On Sunday, Raisi’s helicopter crashed in a remote mountainous area, which caused search crews not to be able to find the crash site right away.
The country’s First Vice President, Mohammad Mokhber, will now take the role of president.
BREAKING: 🇮🇷 Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi confirmed dead. pic.twitter.com/TqhmNqteQl
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) May 20, 2024
Here’s what The New York Post reported:
Search crews reported “no signs of life” as they found the mangled helicopter that was carrying Iran’s hardliner President Ebrahim Raisi, the “Butcher of Tehran,” before it crashed in a remote region of the country on Sunday.
“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash … unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” an official told Reuters.
Raisi’s helicopter went down in a remote mountainous area is hazardous weather, and it took many hours of rescuers to locate the crash site.
With Raisi’s death, all eyes have turned to what his death might mean for Iran’s government.
Under Iranian law, the country’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will now step into the role as president for a custodial period of 50 days, at which point an election must be held to choose Raisi’s successor.
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, is dead. pic.twitter.com/P2c5VHiduk
— Sarah Raviani (@sarahraviani) May 20, 2024
Per Reuters:
Hopes are fading that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister have survived a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain and icy weather, an Iranian official said on Monday after search teams located the wreckage.
“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash … unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” the official told Reuters.
Rescue teams fought blizzards and difficult terrain through the night to reach the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province in the early hours of Monday.
“We can see the wreckage and the situation does not look good,” the head of Iran’s Red Crescent, Pirhossein Kolivand, told state TV.
“With the discovery of the crash site, no signs of life have been detected among the helicopter’s passengers.”
Iranian state media said images from the site showed the helicopter crashed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word yet on the cause of the crash.
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, had earlier sought to reassure Iranians, saying there would be no disruption to state affairs.
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