President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian lost their lives in a helicopter crash while returning from the inauguration of the Qiz Qalasi Dam on the Iran-Azerbaijan border.
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The helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian, and other officials, lost contact approximately 30 minutes into the flight.
More than 60 rescue teams including army, Revolutionary Guard forces, and police units were engaged in the search effort despite harsh weather conditions.
Neighboring countries and international organizations including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Russia, Turkey, and the European Union, pledged support and assistance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences.
The bodies of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian, and others aboard the helicopter were found after a search by Iranian Red Crescent rescuers.
President Ebrahim Raisi, 63, was elected in 2021 and was known for his hardline stance, overseeing a tightening of morality laws and a crackdown on protests.
His tenure also saw a more confrontational approach to nuclear talks with world powers and increased tensions with Israel.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei assured continuity in governance, appointing Mohammad Mokhber as interim head of the executive branch.
Under Iran’s constitution, the vice first president assumes temporary leadership in the event of the president’s death, with a new presidential election to be held within 50 days.
Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri and other officials have been appointed to key positions to ensure the smooth functioning of the government.
Born in 1960 into a clerical family in Mashhad, Ebrahim Raisi was deeply immersed in the traditions of Iran’s Islamic clerical establishment from a young age.
He joined the revolutionary forces during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, aligning himself with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fundamentalist faction.
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Ebrahim Raisi’s judicial career began in the early 1980s when he served as a prosecutor in Iran’s provinces. His involvement came in the late 1980s when he was appointed to a “Death Committee” responsible for executing political prisoners, particularly those affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK).
Estimates suggest that thousands of prisoners were executed during this period earning Ebrahim Raisi the infamous moniker “The Butcher of Tehran.”
The United States sanctioned Ebrahim Raisi in November 2019 for his direct involvement in human rights abuses, particularly his role in the 1988 Massacre.
International human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have long called for Raisi to be investigated for crimes against humanity.
Ebrahim Raisi assumed the presidency in August 2021. His administration oversaw a surge in executions and crackdowns on political dissent with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) playing a key role in suppressing opposition.
Iran launched missile and drone strikes against Israel during his tenure, escalating tensions and bringing the two nations into direct conflict for the first time.
Under Raisi, Iran began enriching uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and obstructed international inspections undermining the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
While Raisi’s administration announced a surprise deal to restore diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia in March 2023, it remained an outlier in Iran’s foreign policy.
Iran continued to arm proxy groups in the Middle East including Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Despite some nations engaging with Iran diplomatically regarding the nuclear deal, others, including the United States and its allies, remained staunchly opposed to Raisi’s policies.
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