State media say Iranian president, foreign minister found dead at helicopter crash site
In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue team members work at the scene of a crash of a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 20, 2024.
Washington —
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other officials were found dead Monday at the site of a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran, state media said.
Search crews found the wreckage Monday, a day after the helicopter crashed in bad weather near Varzaqan in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. The Iranian officials were returning to Iran after attending a dam project inauguration at the Iran-Azerbaijan border.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced five days of mourning, and placed Vice President Mohammad Mokhber in charge of the executive branch. An election for a new president is due to be held within 50 days.
In Photos: Iranian president killed in helicopter crash
1/13A view shows flowers outside the Iranian embassy in Moscow, Russia, placed to pay tribute to Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other victims of a recent helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near Iran's border with Azerbaijan, May 20, 2024.
2/13In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue team members carry the body of a victim after a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 20, 2024.
3/13Rescuers recover bodies at the crash site of a helicopter transporting Iran's President, his Foreign Minister, and others in a fog-covered mountainous area of Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 20, 2024.
4/13In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams members carry body of a victim after a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed in Varzaghan, northwestern Iran, May 20, 2024.
5/13In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue team members search for the wreckage of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after it crashed in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 20, 2024.
6/13A view of the wreckage of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter at the crash site on a mountain in Varzaghan area, northwestern Iran, May 20, 2024.
7/13In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue team members search for the wreckage of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after it crashed in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 20, 2024.
8/13In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams and people are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 19, 2024.
9/13People pray for the well-being of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi following the crash of a helicopter carrying him, in Tehran, May 19, 2024. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency))
10/13Rescue vehicles are seen following a crash of a helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, in Varzaqan , East Azerbaijan Province, Iran, May 19, 2024. (Azin Haghighi/Moj News Agency/WANA)
11/13In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 19, 2024.
12/13A helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi takes off, near the Iran-Azerbaijan border, May 19, 2024. The helicopter with Raisi on board later crashed. (Ali Hamed Haghdoust/IRNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency))
13/13A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi (C) at the site of Qiz Qalasi, the third dam jointly built by Iran and Azerbaijan on the Aras River, ahead of its inauguration ceremony, May 19, 2024.
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Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani was named as acting foreign minister.
Raisi, an ultraconservative Khamenei protege seen by some observers as the supreme leader’s preferred successor, was elected president in a 2021 vote that saw his most prominent rivals barred from running and a record low turnout from the electorate.
Map of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crash site
Images posted to social media and deemed credible by VOA Persian showed opponents of Iran’s authoritarian Islamist rulers setting off fireworks in multiple locations late Sunday to celebrate the prospect of Raisi’s demise.
In one video, a female narrator identifies the location of fireworks as southern Tehran.
In another, a male narrator reacts to what he says are fireworks in the city of Saqqez in northwestern Iran’s Kurdistan province.
VOA could not independently verify the circumstances of the fireworks as it is barred from reporting inside Iran.
Earlier Sunday, Iranian state TV showed footage of government supporters gathering in different parts of the country to pray for Raisi’s safe return.
State news agency IRNA quoted Khamenei as saying: “The Iranian nation shouldn’t be worried. There will be no disruption to the operations of the country.”
IRNA also published a photo showing Vice President Mokhber chairing an emergency cabinet session to deal with the crash’s aftermath.
Payam Yazdian, Farhad Poulavi and Masood Farahmand of VOA’s Persian Service and VOA Azerbaijani Service chief Asgar Asgarov contributed to this report.
