Bodies recovered

Iran’s president killed in helicopter crash

The Iranian Red Crescent has declared the search for the victims of the helicopter crash to be over and has also published pictures of the recovery of the bodies.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Iranian Red Crescent)

For hours, emergency services searched for the crashed helicopter in which Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were sitting. Official confirmation came early on Monday: None of the nine people on board survived! In the meantime, the bodies have also been recovered and brought to the city of Tabriz. State television has already shown pictures of the recovery (see video above).

According to a government representative, the helicopter was completely burnt out in the crash in the north-west of the country. Raisi and Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian were returning from a meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, on Sunday afternoon when their aircraft disappeared from radar. Together they had inaugurated a dam in the neighboring country. The entourage then made their way back to Iran in a total of three helicopters, but the presidential plane did not arrive at its destination.

No signs of life could be found in the crashed helicopter. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi did not survive.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA/AP, Telegram)

The Iranian Red Crescent has declared the search for the victims of the helicopter crash to be over and has also published pictures of the recovery of the bodies.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Iranian Red Crescent)

Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian is also dead.

(Bild: APA/AFP/GABRIEL MONNET)

According to Iranian media reports, the site of the accident is near Jolfa - more than 600 kilometers from the capital Tehran, close to the border with Azerbaijan.

Constitution provides for new elections within 50 days
Iran's cabinet convened for an emergency meeting on Sunday evening. The first vice president, Mohammed Mochber, chaired the meeting late in the evening. According to protocol, he was to replace Raisi as head of government in the event of his death. According to the constitution, new elections must then be held within 50 days. Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered five days of national mourning.

The Azerbaijani president expressed his dismay at Raisi's death. "In President Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian people have lost an outstanding statesman who served his country with dedication and commitment throughout his life. His memory will always live on in our hearts," said Aliyev in a telegram of condolences to Khamenei published in Baku on Monday.

EU Council President Charles Michel also expressed his condolences on behalf of the EU. "The EU expresses its sincere condolences on the death of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Abdollahian and other members of their delegation and crew in a helicopter accident," Michel wrote on his official account on X on Monday. "Our thoughts are with the families."

Media: Israel has nothing to do with it
Israel has not yet made an official statement following the fatal helicopter crash - however, Israeli media reported on Monday, citing unnamed government representatives, that Israel had nothing to do with the incident in the country of its arch-enemy. The Israeli newspaper "Jediot Achronot" reported on Monday that Israel does not expect the deaths of Raisi and Amirabdollahian to have any real impact on the Jewish state. No change in the Islamic Republic of Israel's policy towards Israel is expected.

Iranian state television showed images of the rescue operation.

(Bild: AFP)

Raisi had been president since 2021. He was considered a hardliner and the second most powerful politician in Iran behind Khamenei. He ordered the bloody suppression of nationwide protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody a year and a half ago. He also stood for a tough stance in the international negotiations on the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program.

Is Iran now plunging into a political crisis?
The deaths of Raisi and Amirabdollahian could plunge the Islamic Republic into a domestic and foreign policy crisis. As foreign minister, Amirabdollahian in particular had been increasingly in the public eye since the start of the Gaza war and had made numerous trips to allies. Due to a lack of alternatives, the search for a successor to Raisi is likely to be difficult.