Iranian state media said no “signs of life” were detected at the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister, dampening hopes for the search for survivors.
Rescue teams were identifying the scene of the incident on Monday after Raisi and other government officials crashed into a mountainous area in northwest Iran the day before. Officials had been missing for more than 12 hours, and search efforts were hampered by overnight snowstorms and difficult terrain.
No survivors were found, Iranian state news agency IRINN and semi-state news agency Mehr News reported. “President Raisi’s helicopter was completely destroyed in the crash and unfortunately all passengers are believed to have died,” an official told Reuters.
Iranian state media reported that rescue teams located the scene of the incident early Monday morning, citing Iranian Red Crescent Chairman Pir Hossein Kolivand. “The situation is not good,” Kolivand said, without providing further details, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
Anadolu news agency reported on X that Turkish drones identified a heat source believed to be helicopter debris and shared the coordinates of the possible crash site with Iranian authorities.
Iranian state media said rescue teams had difficulty reaching the scene due to darkness, cold, rain and mud, which later turned into heavy snow. According to Reuters, Iran’s military chief of staff has ordered all resources of the military and the elite Revolutionary Guards to be devoted to search and rescue operations.
Raisi, Amirabdollahian and other government officials were returning from a trip to the border with Azerbaijan for the dam’s opening ceremony. Raisi, 63, holds the second-highest position in Iran’s political hierarchy after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Mr. Raisi, a hardliner, has long been considered a likely candidate to succeed his 85-year-old mentor, Ayatollah Khamenei.
About an hour after the crash, rescue teams arrived at the scene and began a search operation, Iranian Press TV reported. But they faced an extremely difficult mission in the mountainous region, where visibility was less than 15 feet, Babak Mahmoudi, head of the Iranian Red Crescent relief effort, told Press TV.
“The rain is pouring down and the ground is slippery and muddy, which is making the efforts on the ground very complicated,” Mahmoudi said, according to an interpreter on the broadcast.
The incident comes at a tumultuous moment for Iran, a major sponsor of anti-Israel militias such as Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis. Last month, Iran took the unprecedented step of barraging missiles and drones into Israeli territory in retaliation for the killing of Iranian military leaders at its embassy, an attack backed by U.S. forces. was almost repulsed. The attack on Syria is widely believed to be carried out by Israel.
The United States continues to make a concerted effort to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from escalating into a regional conflict, recently sending National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on a weekend trip to Saudi Arabia and Israel. .
Close-up of the graphic:Map shows how US and Israeli weapons were used against Iranian air strikes
Developmental status:
In his statement, Khamenei sought to allay public concerns, saying, “I hope that God will return the honorable president and his associates to the arms of the nation. All should pray for the health of this body of civil servants. The Iranian state must never allow worries or concerns to impede the work of the country.”
■ Iranian forces picked up signals from the helicopter and the crew’s mobile phones and alerted rescue workers to the location of the crash site, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.
∎ President Joe Biden was briefed on the helicopter crash, White House press secretary Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One. The State Department said it was “monitoring reports” about the incident.
∎ Several countries have offered support for search and rescue operations, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Russia. The European Union said it had launched a satellite mapping service to provide assistance at Iran’s request.
∎ Raisi and the rest of his companions were on board a US-made Bell 212 helicopter that seats 15 people, including the crew, but it was not clear how many people were on board, Al Jazeera reported.
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What powers does the President of Iran have?
Raisi was elected president in 2021 and has since taken office ordering tougher moral laws, overseeing a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests and pushing hard for nuclear negotiations with world powers.
Iran’s dual political system is divided between the clergy and the government, with the supreme leader, not the president, having the final say on all major policies. Ayatollah Khamenei strongly supports Raisi’s key policies.
Raisi’s victory in a closely controlled election in 2021 marks the end of an eight-year stint in the presidency of Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who negotiated the nuclear deal with Obama administration officials. It was placed under the control of hardliners.
But Raisi’s standing may have been hurt by widespread protests against clerical rule and his failure to rebuild Iran’s economy, hobbled by Western sanctions.
Raisi was at the Azerbaijan border working on the opening of a joint project, the Kiz Khalesi dam. Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi told state television only that one of the three helicopters crashed in the incident and that authorities were awaiting further details.
What happens if Iran’s president dies while in office?
If the President of Iran dies while in office, the first vice president will take over his duties with the approval of the Supreme Leader, who has the final say in all matters of state, according to Article 131 of the Iranian Constitution.
According to the constitution, a council consisting of the first vice president, the speaker of parliament, and the attorney general must arrange the election of a new president within a maximum of 50 days.
The mountain forest where the helicopter crashed is cold and foggy.
The situation in areas along and near the borders of southern Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran was cloudy and humid from early Sunday evening, according to a weather report from the World Meteorological Organization.
Photos circulating in media reports show rescue workers in heavy fog, a view backed up by European satellite images showing clouds and fog in the area.
The helicopter reportedly crashed in the dense forest area of the vast Arasbaran Forest. Three countries have protected areas in this forest, where scientists study endangered species such as the Persian leopard.
— Dinah Boyles Pulver
Contributed by: Reuters
