Emergency services searched for hours for the crashed helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. Official confirmation came early on Monday: no one on board survived!
A government official said the helicopter was completely burned out during the crash in the northwest of the country. Raisi and Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian were returning from a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday afternoon when their plane disappeared from radar. Together they inaugurated a dam in the neighboring country. The entourage then returned to Iran with a total of three helicopters, but the presidential plane did not arrive at its destination.
As Iranian media reported, the accident site is near Jolfa – more than 600 kilometers from the capital Tehran, close to the border with Azerbaijan.
The constitution provides for new elections within fifty days
The Iranian cabinet met for an emergency meeting on Sunday evening. First Vice President Mohammed Mochber chaired the evening meeting. According to protocol, he would replace Raisi as head of government in the event of his death. According to the constitution, new elections must take place within 50 days.
Raisi has been president since 2021. He was considered a hardliner and the second most powerful politician in Iran, after Ayatollah Khamenei. He ordered the bloody crackdown on 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 international negotiations over the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program.
Is Iran now plunged into a political crisis?
The deaths of Raisi and Amirabdollahian could plunge the Islamic Republic into a domestic and foreign policy crisis. Amirabdollahian in particular had increasingly come into the public eye as foreign minister since the start of the Gaza war and had made numerous trips to allies. Due to the lack of alternatives, the search for a successor for Raisi will be difficult.
Source: Krone
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