Iranian President, Foreign Minister Killed in Helicopter Crash, State TV Says

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, according to state-run Press TV, depriving Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of a longtime ally as Tehran angles for regional dominance through armed militias that are fighting the U.S. and Israel.

Difficult Landing

Raisi’s death was announced early Monday after state TV reported that a helicopter carrying him and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had made a “difficult landing” in northwestern Iran. Several other passengers were also killed.

Iranian Rescuers

Iranian rescuers earlier reached the crash site but had found no signs of life, the interior minister said Monday, after a nightlong operation to a mountainous area shrouded in heavy fog. Rescue teams located the aircraft early Monday morning, state TV said.

Drones, dogs and search-and-rescue teams were used to locate the helicopter as fog and bad weather made the work difficult, the interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, said on state television.

Raisi’s security detail and crew members were also flying with him, along with the governor of the East Azerbaijan province and a senior local cleric.

Khamenei had acknowledged the incident late Sunday. “The nation of Iran should not be worried and anxious. No disruption will occur in the country’s affairs,” he said, according to state TV.

Raisi’s deputy, Mohsen Mansouri, vice president for executive affairs, headed to Tabriz, the largest city in Iran’s northwest, which is about 100 miles from where the helicopter appeared to have gone down, state TV reported.

In Washington, a National Security Council spokesman said on Sunday the U.S. was aware of the reports but had no immediate comment on the situation. A spokesman for the State Department had said it was closely following reports of what it called “a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister.”

The death of Raisi, 63 years old, and Amir-Abdollahian, 60, isn’t expected to change the country’s posture on any of the hot geopolitical issues involving Iran, including concerns about its nuclear program and Israel’s war in Gaza.

A Government Transition Amid

But a government transition amid the current turmoil in the Mideast is an additional challenge for Iran to navigate.

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