Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi was aboard a helicopter when it crashed, official media reported.
According to state media, searchers are attempting to find the chopper that carried Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and President Ebrahim Raisi. We don’t know their present situation.
State media reports that on Sunday, in the country’s mountainous northwest, a helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister crashed, adding to the unrest that has beset Iran in recent months on both the domestic and international fronts.
Mr. Raisi, sixty-three, was heading from the border with Azerbaijan to mark the beginning of a cooperative dam project. According to state media, bad weather and dense fog caused the chopper carrying Mr. Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to crash close to Varzaghan at 1:00 PM local time.
For more than ten hours, search and rescue crews combed through the dense forest and high slopes in the rain and fog. Due to bad weather, officials had to temporarily suspend the airborne search and hunt for the accident site with 40 rescue teams, foot soldiers, and elite commandos from the Revolutionary Guards.
Not even overnight has official media reported on the number of casualties or the president’s or other passengers’ status. Nor is the cause of the crash known.
Speaking to the country on state television, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, declared, “There will be no disruption in the running of the country. I’ve given senior officials the required direction, and they are carrying out their responsibilities. Everything in the nation will carry on in a coordinated and seamless fashion.
Many people believe that Mr. Raisi, a conservative who has brutally put down dissent, has the ability to succeed the Supreme Leader. His fate remains unknown during a very turbulent moment for Iran.
Iran’s long-running shadow war with Israel has surfaced in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in war in Gaza and a string of attacks and retaliations around the region.
When Israel launched airstrikes on a structure inside the Iranian embassy complex in Syria in April, animosity increased. In retaliation, Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones into Israel, many of which were intercepted.
Iran’s populace is in general quite angry, demanding an end to the reign of the clerics. Frustration has grown as a result of the economic damage caused by sanctions and corruption.
In the last 24 months, the nation has experienced internal upheavals, a historic decline in the value of its currency, deteriorating water scarcity as a result of climate change, and the deadliest terrorist attack since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979.
Elections have to be held within 50 days following the president’s death, according to Ali Vaez, director of the International Crisis Group, an impartial organization that prevents conflicts.
He pointed out that this would be a big obstacle for a nation dealing with a serious crisis of legitimacy at home and strained regional ties with Israel and the US.
Mr. Raisi is a staunch cleric who first appeared during the Islamic Revolution in the nation. President Raisi is ranked second in Iran’s political hierarchy by the religious system, behind Supreme Leader Khamenei.
Mr. Raisi has solidified his hold on power since taking office in 2021 and has excluded reformists who wanted to reduce hostilities with the West. He has said on numerous occasions that he followed a course of “strong diplomacy” in order to establish stronger security and commercial connections with China and Russia.
Iran has advanced its nuclear program while bolstering proxies across the Middle East that have attacked Israel and the United States, continuing to broaden its regional power during his presidency.
Concurrently, Mr. Raisi has spearheaded an extensive and lethal suppression of domestic demonstrators, a large number of whom are women and youth who have taken to the streets in opposition to the ruling clergy. According to rights organizations, hundreds of protestors have been slain by the nation’s security forces.
One of the favorites to take Mr. Khamenei’s place as Supreme Leader is Mr. Raisi. The son of Mr. Khamenei is one of his key competitors for this position.
Some observers do not anticipate that Iran’s foreign policy would shift significantly in spite of the catastrophe.
According to analysts, the president has the authority to carry out the decisions made by the Supreme Leader, who sets all national policies.
According to Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group, the conclusion doesn’t fundamentally alter how Iran formulates and advances its foreign policy objectives.
The president and other important stakeholders’ opinions are considered by the Supreme Leader when making strategic decisions about foreign policy.
Mr. Abdollahian, the foreign minister, has engaged in a great deal of regional diplomacy with Arab nations. He has also recently held meetings in Qatar with the heads of terrorist organizations backed by Iran, including as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. On October 7, these groups spearheaded the assault against Israel.
Additionally, he participated in covert indirect negotiations with the US in Oman in February and May to explore ways to ease tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program and to request lifting of sanctions.
