TEHERAN (IRAN) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Iranian state television has officially confirmed the death of Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi, and his Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian. The two died along with seven other people who were with them aboard the helicopter that crashed in a very rough area near the border with Azerbaijan, in the province of eastern Azerbaijan, northwest of Iran, due to bad weather conditions and thick fog.
After 12 hours of research Mohsen Mansouri, Raisìs aide, announced his death in a tweet on his account on the X platform. The head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Pir Hossein Kolivand, had previously indicated on state television that rescue teams had found the site of the plane crash, but had pointed out that ‘the situation is not good’. He also added that after the wreckage of the plane was found with 9 officials on board, including the country’s president, there were no signs that its passengers were alive.
An Iranian official had also previously said that expectations of Raisìs survival were poor. He also added that there was little hope of finding Raisi and Foreign Minister Abdullahian alive, after the helicopter fell into a mountainous area and in freezing weather.
The Iranian news agency “Mehr” also confirmed that Raisi and all his comrades died in a helicopter crash.
Some analysts have hypothesised that the helicopter collided with one of the mountains in the area, in the midst of thick fog and with difficulty of view, especially after the first images of the plane showed it almost completely on fire. This came after the Turkish Akinji drone participating in the research detected two sources of heat, one of which is believed to have come from the wreckage of the helicopter.
The helicopter with Raisi (63 years old) on board, together with former head of the country’s judiciary, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan, Malik Rahmati, the imam of Tabriz, Muhammad Ali Al-Hashem, and other comrades, crashed in the middle of the forests of Arsparan, near the village of Ozi, in the middle of the thick fog.
Weather conditions also prevented rescue helicopters from landing at the crash site. Raisi was in Azerbaijan early yesterday morning, with the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to open the third dam that the two countries built on the Aras River.
The visit took place despite cold relations between the two countries, including an armed attack on the Azeri embassy in Tehran in 2023, and the existing diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Israel, which Tehran considers its main enemy in the region.
– photo Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
