Iran president helicopter crash: ‘No sign of life’ as Ebrahim Raisi’s chopper found

There has been “no sign of life” detected at the crash site of a helicopter carrying Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, Iranian state TV said on Monday.

The statement comes minutes after the Iranian Red Crescent said its search and rescue teams have reached the crash site of the helicopter carrying the president, foreign minister and other senior officials.

Rescuers have found a helicopter that was carrying Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, as well as the country’s foreign minister and other senior officials, that had apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran yesterday.

The helicopter was seen from a distance of some 2km, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, told state media.

Turkish authorities this morning released what they described as drone footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be the wreckage of helicopter”.

The coordinates listed in the footage put the fire some 20km south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain.

Born to a conservative family in eastern Iran, Raisi studied theology at the seminaries in Qom, a city just south of the Iranian capital Tehran.

He was a teenager when the country’s Islamic revolution established Iran as a theocracy in 1979 and he quickly became an enthusiastic participant in enforcing the vision of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.

At 21 years old, Raisi began serving as a prosecutor, pursuing politically charged cases in the cities of Karaj and Hamadan. He gained a reputation as one of the regime’s most severe figures – a young, brash ideologue, willing to get his hands dirty.

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The aircraft had a “rough landing” near Jolfa, the Iranian city on the border of Azerbaijan exclave Nakhchivan, around 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital Tehran.

It was carrying Raisi, 63, and Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian following a visit with the Azerbaijani president to discuss an infrastructure project over the Aras River.

It was described as a crash by a local official, but he acknowledged an enormous search operation involving 16 teams had yet to locate the helicopter to confirm the extent of the incident.

The United Nations is following reports of Iranian president Raisi’s crashed helicopter with concern and hopes for his safety, a spokesperson said.

“The Secretary-General is following reports of an incident with Iranian President Raisi’s aircraft with concern. He hopes for the safety of the president and his entourage,” the spokesperson said.

General Hossein Salami, the Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, along with a group of IRGC commanders, has arrived in the area.

They are in area to investigate the incident and to issue orders aimed at the search and rescue operations – which are being carried out by around 40 teams.

Iranians have been pictured praying for the health of their president Ebrahim Raisi after officials said his life was at risk following a helicopter crash.

On Sunday, Iran’s supreme leader urged Iranians not to worry about the crash and insisted they pray for his health and return Tehran.

Iran’s cabinet, chaired by the first vice president Mohammad Mokhber, held an emergency meeting Sunday evening.

“The meeting focused on the hard landing of the president’s helicopter upon the first vice president’s directive,” state media reported.

“The first vice president instructed the minister of health and the executive vice president to travel to the affected region.

“The convening of this emergency meeting aimed to mobilise all available resources to monitor and respond to President Ebrahim Raisi’s situation following the helicopter accident.”