OAN’s James Meyers
8:48 AM – Monday, May 20, 2024
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in a remote region of the country Sunday, multiple officials and state media said.
Advertisement
The “Butcher of Tehran,” his foreign minister and other passengers were found dead after the rescuers discovered the crash site on Monday.
According to state news agency Mehr, “all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred.”
Raisi was the second-most powerful person in the Islamic Republic after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Meanwhile, Iran’s first Vice President Mohammad Mokhber is now acting president, and top negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani has been appointed acting foreign minister.
A senior Iranian official had earlier confirmed that Raisi was killed in the crash after state media reported there was “no sign of life” at the crash site.
“President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” the senior Iranian official told Reuters.
The Iranian president’s helicopter was found early morning Monday in a mountainous area about 12 hours after it went down in hazardous weather.
Raisi was coming home with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other local officials through torrential clouds and dense fog after traveling to Azerbaijan to open a new dam with President Ilham Aliyev.
Originally, state media reported the aircraft experienced a “hard landing” and that initial rescue efforts were stalled due to severe wind and fog and the region’s terrain landscape.
Additionally, Raisi was flying a U.S.-made Bell 212 helicopter at the time of the crash, state media reported.
Iran’s official news agency INRA said Raisi was traveling with a fleet of choppers when his helicopter went down near the city of Jolfa, which is almost 375 miles northwest of Tehran.
Reuters reported the helicopter was completely burned after it crashed.
Messages of condolences were sent out from Iran’s allies, which included the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq and Pakistan.
Furthermore, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Raisi “a true friend of Russia,” while India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply shocked and saddened.”
Under Iranian law, Mokhber will be president for a custodial period of 50 days, then an election must be held to choose Raisi’s successor.
Iranian state TV stopped regular programming after news of the crash was released, instead broadcasting mass gatherings around the country showing support, praising Raisi’s legacy.
Just days after Iran sent multiple missiles and drones against Israel that failed, Raisi threatened the Jewish State, saying they would receive a “massive and harsh” response should Israel retaliate, and also warned that if Iran had wanted to carry out a bigger attack, “nothing would remain of the Zionist regime.”
In 2021, Raisi won the country’s presidential election, which was the lowest turnout election in the Islamic Republic’s history.
He was sanctioned by the U.S. in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, known as the “death committee” at the end of the deadly Iran-Iraq war.
An Israeli official denied the country had any involvement in the crash.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Be the first to comment