A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian crashed, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA. The crash occurred in Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province, triggering an extensive search and rescue operation.
Search and Rescue Efforts
The condition of President Raisi and Minister Abdollahian remains unknown. Rescuers are facing significant challenges due to fog and extreme cold, which have hindered access to the crash site, IRNA reported. The Iranian Armed Forces, led by Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, have been on the scene since early Sunday, utilizing drones and deploying numerous rescue teams.
Despite these obstacles, officials have managed to establish contact with some passengers, providing hope for the mission’s success. Both Raisi’s official Instagram account and state television have called on Iranians to pray for those on board.
Incident Details
The crash occurred as President Raisi and Minister Abdollahian were returning from a dam inauguration ceremony near the Iran-Azerbaijan border, IRNA reported. Two other helicopters in the convoy arrived safely, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi stated that Raisi’s helicopter was forced to make a hard landing due to adverse weather conditions.
Weather Complications
The crash site is believed to be in the Dizmar Forest area between the villages of Ozi and Pir Davood. Poor weather, including fog and extreme cold, is complicating rescue efforts in this rural region. Tasnim reported that residents in the northern Varzeqan region heard noises from the area. The Red Crescent and other rescue teams, including mountaineers, aim to reach the crash coordinates within half an hour.
Iran’s Health Minister Bahram Eynollahi warned that the dense fog is making the search difficult. “We have set up treatment facilities and deployed all medical resources, including emergency medicine and ambulances,” Eynollahi said on state TV.
International Support
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has offered assistance, describing his country as a “neighbor, friend, and brotherly country.”
Background on President Raisi
Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s eighth president, is a former hardline judiciary chief elected in 2021. Born in 1960, he attended the seminary in Qom and earned a Ph.D. in law. His career began in the early 1980s as a prosecutor, eventually becoming Tehran’s prosecutor general in 1994 and Iran’s prosecutor general in 2014. In 2019, he became the country’s chief justice, a tenure marked by intensified repression of dissent and human rights abuses, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Raisi in 2019 for his involvement in the 1988 “death commission” and judicial approval of executions, including those of minors. Raisi was elected president in 2021, securing 18 million votes in a historically uncompetitive election. His presidency has ushered in a harder-line era with significant policy shifts.
In 2022, amid the Woman Life Freedom protest movement, Raisi withdrew from an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour after she refused a last-minute demand to wear a headscarf.