Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, FM Amirabdollahian Die In Helicopter Crash

The helicopter crashed on Sunday in Varzaqan, East Azerbaijan province, while flying through steep terrain in severe fog

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, FM Amirabdollahian Die In Helicopter Crash

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian both died in a helicopter crash, Iran's Vice President Mohsen Mansouri confirmed on Monday.

"Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, East Azarbaijan Province's Governor Malek Rahmati, and Mehdi Mousavi, the head of Raisi's guard team, were also on board the crashed aircraft," the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) earlier said.

President Raisi and other officials were accompanied by Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, the Supreme Leader's envoy in the East Azerbaijan region.

On condition of anonymity, a senior Iranian official previously told Reuters that "President Raisi, the foreign minister, and all of the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash."

Mehr news agency in Iran also reported that "all passengers of the helicopter" were "martyred."

The helicopter carrying President Raisi and Iran's foreign minister crashed on Sunday in Varzaqan, East Azerbaijan province, while flying through steep terrain in severe fog.

According to Iranian official television, inclement weather caused the accident, complicating rescue attempts in the country's northwest. According to IRNA, Raisi was traveling in a Bell 212 helicopter, which was manufactured in the United States. 

In an interview with the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Iran Red Crescent Society chief Pir-Hossein Kolivand stated that "no trace of survivors has been seen after the discovery of the site of the crashed helicopter." 

He also stated that rescuers located the helicopter's crash site after "hours of extensive search in a mountainous region" in Iran's East Azerbaijan province. 

President Raisi, FM Amirabdollahian, and other high-ranking officials were returning to Iran from an inauguration ceremony for a dam on Iran's border with the Republic of Azerbaijan when the ill-fated helicopter crashed Sunday afternoon.

Following the death of the Iranian President, Mohammad Mokhber, the Islamic Republic's First Vice-President, is due to take office after the Supreme Leader grants approval, according to Article 131 of Iran's Constitution.