The President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed dead in an helicopter crash.
Recall Dockaysworld reported that Raisi, aged 63 was returning from a ceremony to celebrate a dam opening on the border with Azerbaijan when the ill-fated helicopter crashed in the Varzaqan region on Sunday.
Every other occupant of the chopper have been reported dead.
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Iran state TV said ‘no sign of life’ detected at crash site of helicopter carrying the president, Associated Press reports.
“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash … unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” an official told Reuters.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Governor of East Azarbaijan Province Malek Rahmati, and other leaders were on board.
Kolivand, head of the Red Crescent Society: The location of the president’s helicopter was found
BREAKING: Iran's President and Foreign Minister have died in helicopter crash
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) May 20, 2024
According to article 131 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution, if a president dies in office the first vice president takes over, with the confirmation of the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state.
A council consisting of the first vice president, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary must arrange a election for a new president within a maximum period of 50 days.
Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, is in line for the presidency and would take over.
Raisi ran for president in 2017 and lost before being elected in 2021.
Israel Reacts
Meanwhile, Israeli officials are refraining from commenting on the incident.
Israeli officials anticipated that some within Iran would try to spread conspiracy theories about purported Israel’s involvement in the crash.
However, unofficial sources have clarified that the country had no connection or involvement in the helicopter crash.
Senior Israeli officials said that the apparent deaths of Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian are not expected to impact Israel or its policy toward the Islamic Republic.
Israel has long viewed Iran as its greatest threat because of Tehran’s controversial nuclear program, its ballistic missiles and its support for armed groups sworn to Israel’s destruction.
Iran views itself as the chief patron of Palestinian resistance to Israeli rule, and top officials for years have called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Tensions have never been higher than they were last month, when Iran under Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel in response to an airstrike on an Iranian Consulate in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and five officers.
Israel, with the help of the United States, Britain, Jordan and others, intercepted nearly all the projectiles. In response, Israel apparently launched its own strike against an air defense radar system in the Iranian city of Isfahan, causing no casualties but sending an unmistakable message.
