According to reports from Iranian official media, on May 19th local time, a helicopter carrying the Iranian President and Foreign Minister crashed in the mountainous region of northwestern Iran while returning from a visit to Azerbaijan. The fate of the passengers on board is currently unknown.
Iran’s Interior Minister, Ahmad Vahidi, stated on Sunday (19th) to the state-run Iranian television that a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s team experienced a hard landing accident.
The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the crashed helicopter was carrying Iranian President Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and local officials.
The condition of the helicopter is currently unclear. Rescue operations have been hampered by dense fog and severe weather conditions, prompting the deployment of drones, search dogs, and rescue teams to locate the helicopter.
Earlier that day, President Raisi had met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the Giz Galasi Dam in the border area between Iran and Azerbaijan.
Raisi was elected as Iran’s President in 2021. In the 1980s, when he was Deputy Prosecutor of Tehran, Raisi, along with three others, was collectively known as the “Four-Man Committee” or “Death Committee” by Iranian opposition and Western politicians. This committee was believed to be responsible for the execution of Iranian political prisoners in 1988. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control.