Update: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is also dead.
Original Story
The Red Crescent media reports they have not found the helicopter. However, Turkey has a heat signature. Several reports say rescuers have communicated with a pilot and a passenger on the helicopter.
Rescuers are hampered by terrible weather in a remote area.
Reuters Report:
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog, an Iranian official told Reuters, and rescuers were struggling to reach the site of the incident.
The official said the lives of Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were “at risk following the helicopter crash”, which happened on the way back from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan in Iran’s northwest.
“We are still hopeful, but information coming from the crash site is very concerning,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
AP Report:
The likely crash came as Iran under Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel last month and has enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
Iran has also faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over an ailing economy and women’s rights — making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country as the Israel-Hamas war inflames the wider Middle East.
Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said what it called a “hard landing” happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, state TV put it farther east, near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.
Ayatollah Khomenei said if they find Israel did it, Israel and its allies will suffer “beyond imagination.” The weather was terrible. It’s likely an accident. State TV reports it was likely due to bad weather.
There was no reason for Israel or its allies to kill Raisi unless they were looking to start World War III.
By the way, our borders are wide open. When will Americans wake up?
People are celebrating, but why? The person who will follow him is someone worse: Mojtaba Khamenei, the ideological son of Ayatollah Khamenei.
Iran’s President Raisi has been confirmed dead. Iran’s supreme leader says that “if we find evidence that Israel is involved in helicopter crash of president of Iran, we will respond beyond imagination of Israel and its allies” – Netanyahu has done it.
pic.twitter.com/Vmjzrvcmf1— Online Shogun (@online_shogun) May 19, 2024
Nine people were on the helicopter that crashed in northwest Iran on Sunday, including three officials, an imam, and flight and security team members, Iran’s Tasnim news reported.
The IRGC-run media outlet, Sepah, reported the nine included: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian; Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati, Tabriz’s Friday prayer Imam Mohammad Ali Alehashem as well as a pilot, copilot, crew chief, head of security and another bodyguard.
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