We’re now closing this blog. My colleague Chris Stein in the US will be following the latest news and reaction on the ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu and some Israeli ministers in his US politics blog here:
Deputy foreign minister Andrew Mitchell will be asked to explain further on Tuesday when he appears in front of the business committee that is examining the UK decision to continue to sell arms to Israel on the basis that it is not in breach of international humanitarian law.
Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, was the enthusiastically backed British government candidate for the post in 2021 and it was regarded as a diplomatic coup for the government to see him elected.
Moreover, it is striking that Khan has been advised in making his decision by a panel of distinguished lawyers – almost all of whom are British.
The government has refused to publish the legal advice that has led them to conclude Israel has not committed a breach of international humanitarian law, but the UK response to the ICC prosecutor’s request is not based on that law but on the disputed issue of ICC jurisdiction.
When the ICC first claimed jurisdiction over Israel’s actions, the then prime minister Boris Johnson said he opposed the ICC’s actions as an attack on Israel. In a letter to Conservative Friends of Israel he said the ICC’s action “gives the impression of being a partial and prejudicial attack on a friend and ally of the UK’s”. He said Palestine was not a recognised state.
In November 2023,Mitchell appeared to draw back from Johnson’s stance telling MPs: “It is not for ministers to seek to state where the ICC has jurisdiction; that is for the chief prosecutor. The chief prosecutor has not been silent on this matter, and I am sure he will continue to express his views.” At a different point he said: “It is not for me to fetter or speak in the place of its chief prosecutor.”
Labour supports the right of the ICC to seek warrants.
The ICC says it may exercise its jurisdiction in situations where the alleged perpetrator is a national of a State Party or where the crime was committed in the territory of a State Party. It ruled in 2021 it had jurisdiction in the Occupied Territories.
UK says it is opposed to arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant
The UK has said it was opposed to the International Criminal Court seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant.
In a statement, the foreign office said: “We do not believe that seeking warrants will help get hostages out, get aid in, or deliver a sustainable ceasefire. This remains the UK’s priority.”
The statement added: “As we have said from the outset, we do not think the ICC has jurisdiction in this case. The UK has not yet recognized Palestine as a state, and Israel is not a state party to the Rome statute. It would be premature to respond further before the pre-trial chamber has considered the prosecutor’s application for warrants.”
Updated
World affairs editor Julian Borger has this explainer on what happens next with the international criminal court arrest warrant request:
The application for warrants now goes to one of the pre-trial chambers in the ICC, and will be decided on by a panel of three judges. At the moment, the chamber involved is made up of judges, from Romania, Benin and Mexico. It is not a foregone conclusion that they will approve all Khan’s requests, but legal scholars point out that the threshold of evidence for a warrant is just “reasonable grounds to believe”, rather than “beyond a reasonable doubt”, which is the standard for conviction at trial.
Iva Vukušić, an expert on international legal institutions at the Utrecht University, in the Netherlands, said: “The prosecution is not dumb; they would not mess up at this stage at such an important case everyone is looking at. So I believe the judges will agree on the warrants.”
The ICC does not have its own police force or enforcement mechanism, but the warrants would seriously limit the travel options of the indictees. The 124 state members of the ICC would be under obligation to arrest them, and even non-members would come under pressure to carry out an arrest.
In practice, powerful non-members such as the US, Russia and China, would shrug off such pressure. Netanyahu and Gallant, for example, would still be able to visit America. Sinwar and Deif are believed to be in Gaza so beyond reach for the time being. Haniyeh is based in Qatar, which is not a member of the ICC.
Read more of Julian Borger’s explainer here: Will the ICC approve arrest warrants for Israel and Hamas leaders?
A statement from Hamas has denounced the request by the international criminal court’s chief prosecutor for arrest warrants for three of its senior leaders, calling for them to be cancelled.
Reuters reports in a statement the organisation said “Hamas strongly denounces the attempts of the prosecutor of the international criminal court to equate the victim with the executioner by issuing arrest warrants against a number of Palestinian resistance leaders. Hamas...demands the cancellation of all arrest warrants issued against leaders of the Palestinian resistance, for violating UN conventions and resolutions.”
Peter Beaumont has this analysis of what next for Iran after the death of president Ebrahim Raisi:
One indication of the likely trajectory is that the figures appointed to replace Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in the interim as elections are prepared have similar backgrounds: Mohammad Mokhber, a Khamenei loyalist from the conservative camp, will become interim president, and Ali Bagheri Kani will step up from acting foreign minister and is already acting in back-channel talks with the US on nuclear issues.
A statement from the Iran’s strategic council on foreign relations on Monday, in the immediate aftermath of the deaths, also indicated a desire for continuity in the current policies.
“Without a doubt, the path of Iran’s foreign policy will continue with strength and power, under the guidance of the supreme leader,” the statement said. “With their active presence in foreign policy arenas, [Raisi and Abdollahian] did what they could to realise the national interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
All of which makes any question of a new direction in Tehran’s foreign policy a longer-term issue, and one that is ultimately tied to who succeeds Khamenei as supreme leader – not least after the death of Raisi, who, along with Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, was seen as a potential leader.
Read more of Peter Beaumont’s analysis here: Iran’s supreme leader sets its hardline foreign policies – expect more of the same
As part of its process today the international criminal court (ICC) has published an analysis by a panel of experts in international law which has assessed the decision made by the chief prosecutor of the court.
The panel includes Lord Justice Fulford, Danny Friedman KC, Lady Helena Kennedy KC and Elizabeth Wilmshurst KC from the UK, and Judge Theodor Meron and barrister Amal Clooney.
In a key passage regarding Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the panel’s report says:
As a result of a number of factors, including the imposition by Israel of restrictions on the movement of people and goods from and to Gaza in the aftermath of its 2005 disengagement, Gazans were highly dependent on Israel for the provision of and access to objects indispensable for the survival of the population even before 7 October.
Second, although Israeli officials have a right to ensure that aid is not diverted to the benefit of the enemy and to stipulate lawful technical arrangements for its transfer, they cannot impose arbitrary restrictions – such as restrictions that violate Israel’s obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, or that contravene the principles of necessity and proportionality -- when exercising these rights.
Third, parties to an armed conflict must not deliberately impede the delivery of humanitarian relief for civilians, including humanitarian relief provided by third parties. And when a territory is under the belligerent occupation of one party to the conflict, there is also an enhanced active obligation for the occupying power to ensure adequate humanitarian aid for civilians, including by providing such aid itself insofar as this is necessary. In the Panel’s view, while it can reasonably be argued that Israel was the occupying power in Gaza even before 7 October 2023, Israel certainly became the occupying power in all of or at least in substantial parts of Gaza after its ground operations in the territory began.
On the situation of charging Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, it describes Hamas as “a highly organised non-State armed group” and goes on to say:
The Prosecutor seeks arrest warrants against three senior Hamas leaders for the war crimes of murder and the crimes against humanity of murder and extermination for the killing of hundreds of civilians on 7 October 2023. He also seeks to charge them with the war crime of taking at least 245 persons hostage. Finally, he seeks to charge them with the war crimes of rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, cruel treatment, and outrages upon personal dignity and the crimes against humanity of rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, and other inhumane acts for acts committed against Israeli hostages while they were in captivity.
After assessing the material provided by the Prosecutor the Panel has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the three suspects had a common plan that necessarily involved the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The systematic and coordinated nature of the crimes, their scale, statements by the suspects supporting the commission of such crimes, evidence of the sophisticated planning of the attacks and the ideology and past practices of Hamas all support the finding that the common plan was criminal in character.
The Panel additionally concurs with the Prosecutor’s view that Sinwar, Deif and Haniyeh made essential contributions to this plan and that they have through their own words and actions admitted to their responsibility.
You can find the whole document here.
Summary of the day so far …
The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has said he is seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, the denial of humanitarian relief supplies and deliberately targeting civilians. Hamas leaders and officials Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh were named as being wanted for crimes of extermination, murder, hostage taking, rape, sexual assault and torture.
Senior figures in the Israeli government have reacted angrily to the announcement which Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz said was “scandalous” and tantamount to attacking the victims of 7 October. Finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the decision would be “the last nail in the dismantling of this political and antisemitic court,” adding that “arrest warrants [for Netanyahu and Gallant] are the arrest warrants for all of us”. President Isaac Herzog said it was “one-sided” and in “bad faith”, and that Israel “expects all leaders in the free world to condemn outright this step and firmly reject it.”
The move has also been condemned by senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhuri, who said the decision “equates the victim with the executioner” and encourages Israel to continue its “war of extermination” in Gaza. Wasel Abu Youssef of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said there was confusion over who was the victim, and that “The Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves. The ICC is required to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials who are pursuing crimes of genocide in the Gaza Strip.”
The development came just hours it was confirmed that the hardline Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, was killed in a helicopter crash in foggy weather in the mountains near the border with Azerbaijan. The charred wreckage of the aircraft, which crashed on Sunday carrying Raisi, as well as the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and six other passengers and crew, was found early on Monday after an overnight search in blizzard conditions. The 63-year-old ultraconservative will be replaced in the interim by the country’s first vice-president, Mohammad Mokhber. Under Iran’s constitution, a new presidential election must be held within 50 days.
The Times of Israel reports an unnamed Israeli official told the newspaper that the international criminal court’s (ICC) decision to seek arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were a “baseless blood libel against Israel [that] has crossed a red line in [chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s] lawfare efforts against the lone Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East.”
It says Netanyahu is expected to make a video statement later. Israel is not a member of the court and does not recognise its authority.
Israel's president Herzog: 'one-sided' ICC decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas officials is 'beyond outrageous' and in 'bad faith'
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that the international criminal court (ICC) prosecutor’s decision on to seek arrest warrants for Israeli officials due to the war on Gaza was “beyond outrageous” and “emboldens terrorists around the world.”
In a post to social media, Herzog said:
The announcement of the prosecutor at the ICC is beyond outrageous, and shows the extent to which the international judicial system is in danger of collapsing.
Taken in bad faith, this one-sided move represents a unilateral political step that emboldens terrorists around the world, and violates all the basic rules of the court according to the principle of complementarity and other legal norms.
Hamas’ leaders are oppressive dictators guilty of launching mass murder, mass rape, and mass kidnappings of men, women, children and babies.
Any attempt to draw parallels between these atrocious terrorists and a democratically elected government of Israel – working to fulfil its duty to defend and protect its citizens entirely in adherence to the principles of international law – is outrageous and cannot be excepted by anyone.
Herzog went on to say Israel “expects all leaders in the free world to condemn outright this step and firmly reject it.”
Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, the denial of humanitarian relief supplies and deliberately targeting civilians. The ICC also named Hamas leaders and officials Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh as being wanted for crimes of extermination, murder, hostage taking, rape, sexual assault and torture.
Hadja Lahbib, the Belgian foreign minister, has been more supportive of the move by the international criminal court (ICJ) than the Czech prime minister, who earlier called its actions “completely unacceptable”. [See 13.44 BST]
Lahbib said:
Crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of the perpetrators. Belgium supports the work of the ICC. The request submitted by the court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, for arrest warrants against both Hamas and Israeli officials is an important step in the investigation of the situation in Palestine.
Israeli ministers condemn ICC arrest warrant call as 'scandalous' and 'tantamount to attack on 7 October victims'
Senior figures in the Israeli government have reacted angrily to the announcement that the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) is seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz said the move was “scandalous” and tantamount to attacking the victims of 7 October. Reuters reports he said he had opened a special war room to counteract the ICC’s move, adding no force in the world will prevent Israel from bringing back its hostages from Gaza and toppling Hamas.
Finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the decision would be “the last nail in the dismantling of this political and antisemitic court,” adding that “arrest warrants [for Netanyahu and Gallant] are the arrest warrants for all of us.”
War cabinet member Benny Gantz, who has recently threatened to pull his party from Israel’s coalition government said “Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a blood-thirsty terror organisation (Hamas) is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy.”
Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, the denial of humanitarian relief supplies and deliberately targeting civilians.
The Hamas-led health authority in Gaza has said the death toll from Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip is over 35,500 Palestinians, while Israel says it has lost 282 soldiers since ground operations began. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Aid agencies have widely reported food shortages in the territory, where hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by Israel’s aerial bombardment, being forced to live in makeshift tent shelters with poor sanitation conditions.
The move has also been condemned by senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhuri, who said the decision “equates the victim with the executioner” and encourages Israel to continue its “war of extermination” in Gaza. Wasel Abu Youssef of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said there was confusion over who was the victim, and that “The Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves. The ICC is required to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials who are pursuing crimes of genocide in the Gaza Strip.”
Hamas leaders and officials Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh were named as being wanted for crimes of extermination, murder, hostage taking, rape, sexual assault and torture.
Hamas and other groups in Gaza are believed to be still holding about 129 hostages of the approximately 250 seized and abducted during the 7 October surprise attack inside southern Israel. Israeli authorities put the death toll caused by the 7 October attack at about 1,140.
Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, has condemned the move by the international criminal court as “completely unacceptable”.
He said:
The ICC Chief Prosecutor’s proposal to issue an arrest warrant for the representatives of a democratically elected government together with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organisation is appalling and completely unacceptable.
We must not forget that it was Hamas that attacked Israel in October and killed, injured and kidnapped thousands of innocent people. It was this completely unprovoked terrorist attack that led to the current war in Gaza and the suffering of civilians in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Wasel Abu Youssef said on Monday the international criminal court (ICC) prosecutor’s office requesting arrest warrants for Hamas leaders was a “confusion between the victim and the executioner”.
“The ICC is required to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials who continue committing genocide crimes in the Gaza Strip,” Reuters reports he added.
ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM and Hamas officials for war crimes
Bethan McKernan reports from Jerusalem for the Guardian:
The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has said he is seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
Karim Khan said his office has applied to the world court’s pre-trial chamber for arrest warrants for the military and political leaders on both sides for crimes committed during Hamas’s 7 October attack and the ensuing war in Gaza.
He named Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip, and Mohammed Deif, the commander of its military wing, considered to be the masterminds of the 7 October assault, as well as Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the group’s political bureau, who is based in Qatar, as wanted for crimes of extermination, murder, hostage taking, rape, sexual assault and torture.
Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, the denial of humanitarian relief supplies and deliberately targeting civilians. “These acts demand accountability,” Khan’s office said in a statement.
The ICC has previously issued warrants for the Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. Israel is not a member of the court and does not recognise its authority.
Read more of Bethan McKernan’s report from Jerusalem here: ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM and Hamas officials for war crimes
Smotrich compares Hague court to 'Nazi propaganda' and says arrest warrents for Netanyahu and Gallant are 'arrest warrants for all of us'
Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has joined a chorus of disappoval from senior Israeli figures to the news that the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has said he is seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli officials for war crimes.
In a post to social media the far-right minister and leader of the National Religious Party–Religious Zionism said:
We haven’t seen such a show of hypocrisy and hatred of Jews like that of The Hague Tribunal since Nazi propaganda. Haters of Israel come and go, Israel’s eternity will not lie.
These arrest warrants will be the last nail in the dismantling of this political and antisemitic court. The friends of Israel and the truly enlightened countries will not be able to allow its continued existence and functioning.
The same is true of the Palestinian Authority, which is behind the proceedings at the court. The time has come to bring it to an end and stop the damage it is causing to the state of Israel in the world.
I would like to strengthen the hands of the prime minister and the minister of defense. Their arrest warrants are the arrest warrants for all of us. Israel will continue to defend itself and eradicate its enemies and history will judge those who sided with the Nazis of Hamas and against the light and goodness of the State of Israel.
The Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza has issued updated casualty figures from the conflict, reporting 106 Palestinians were killed and 176 wounded in the last 24 hours.
That, it claims, brings the latest death toll in the Gaza Strip since 7 October to 35,562 Palestinians. The ministry claims that 79,652 people have been wounded.
In addition, in a recent update on the situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) recorded that:
Since 7 October, 480 Palestinians have been killed, including 116 children, of whom 463 were killed by Israeli forces, ten by settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli settlers or soldiers. In addition, around 5,040 Palestinians have been injured in the same period.
Israel’s military has recorded the deaths of 282 soldiers since ground operations began in Gaza on 27 October, and says that in total it has released the names of 631 soldiers killed during what it calls the Swords of Iron War since 7 October. Over 3,500 troops have been wounded, with 267 hospitlaised according to officially release figures.
Israel believes that about 129 hostages of the approximately 240 seized and abducted by Hamas and other groups on 7 October remain in Gaza, with at least 37 of them presumed dead.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict. Media access to Gaza has been limited, and the Committee to protect journalists has recorded that at least 105 journalists and media workers have been killed since 7 October.
Israeli hostages’ families have rejected the ICC prosecutor drawing “symmetry” between the Israeli leadership and Hamas, Haaretz reported.
Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader, condemned as a “disaster” the announcement by the International Criminal Court prosecutor that arrest warrants had been requested against Israel’s prime minister and defence minister, Reuters reported.
The ICC prosecutor’s announcement has elicited sharp criticism in Israel.
“Placing the leaders of a country that went into battle to protect its citizens, in the same line with bloodthirsty terrorists - is moral blindness,” wrote Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz. “Accepting the position of the prosecutor would be a historical crime,” he added.
מדינת ישראל יצאה למלחמה הצודקת ביותר, לאחר טבח שביצע ארגון טרור באזרחיה.
— בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) May 20, 2024
מדינת ישראל נלחמת באופן המוסרי ביותר בהיסטוריה, תוך הקפדה על החוק הבינלאומי, ויש לה מערכת משפט עצמאית וחזקה.
הצבת מנהיגי מדינה שיצאה לקרב הגנה על אזרחיה, באותה השורה עם טרוריסטים צמאי דם - היא עיוורון מוסרי…
Updated
The Nato spokesperson, Farah Dakhlallah, has also reacted to the accident in Iran.
Our condolences to the people of Iran for the death of President Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, and others who perished in the helicopter crash.
Updated
In his statement, the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, says:
“On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Yahya SINWAR (Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) in the Gaza Strip), Mohammed Diab Ibrahim AL-MASRI, more commonly known as DEIF (Commander-in-Chief of the military wing of Hamas, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades), and Ismail HANIYEH (Head of Hamas Political Bureau) bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 7 October 2023:
Extermination as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(b) of the Rome Statute;
Murder as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(a), and as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
Taking hostages as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(iii);
Rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(g), and also as war crimes pursuant to article 8(2)(e)(vi) in the context of captivity;
Torture as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(f), and also as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity;
Other inhumane acts as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(l)(k), in the context of captivity;
Cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity; and
Outrages upon personal dignity as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(ii), in the context of captivity.”
He also said:
“On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023:
Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Statute;
Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health contrary to article 8(2)(a)(iii), or cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
Wilful killing contrary to article 8(2)(a)(i), or Murder as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime contrary to articles 8(2)(b)(i), or 8(2)(e)(i);
Extermination and/or murder contrary to articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(a), including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity;
Persecution as a crime against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(h);
Other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(k).”
Updated
Here’s the formal statement by the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan.
#ICC Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC announces applications for arrest warrants in relation to Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant in the context of the situation in the State of #Palestine ⤵️https://t.co/WqDZecXFZq pic.twitter.com/bxqLWc5M6u
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) May 20, 2024
Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, said “I would like to express my deepest condolences to the Iranian people upon the tragic accident that took the lives of President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Iran,” he added.
I would like to express my deepest condolences to the Iranian people upon the tragic acccident that took the lives of President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Iran.
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) May 20, 2024
A panel of ICC judges will now consider chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s application for arrest warrants.
Khan told CNN the charges against Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention.”
The charges against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, include “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” according to Khan.
Updated
ICC chief prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Sinwar and Netanyahu
Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court, told CNN that he is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar and Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Updated
Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, has issued a statement on Iran.
“The European Union offers its condolences for the death of president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other Iranian officials involved in the tragic helicopter crash on Sunday,” Borrell said.
“The EU expresses its sympathies to the families of all the victims and to the Iranian citizens affected,” he added.
Some more images have been sent from Iran over the news wires showing the search and rescue efforts reaching the helicopter wreckage near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan in which president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were killed.
Video shows the wreckage from a helicopter crash in which the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, and the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were killed. The helicopter crashed in foggy weather in the mountains near the border with Azerbaijan.
A makeshift tribute has been set up to president Ebrahim Raisi outside the Iranian embassy in Moscow, with people leaving flowers. Earlier, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters at his regular press briefing that when the news came in yesterday that contact had been lost with Raisi’s helicopter, president Vladimir Putin invited the Iranian ambassador for a conversation.
AFP reports a spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthis has said the death of Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash was “a loss not only for Iran but also for the entire Islamic world and Palestine and Gaza.”
Mohammed Abdulsalam said Palestinians were “in dire need of the presence of such a president who continued to defend” their right to freedom.
Away from Iran again for a second, Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant has reportedly told US national security adviser Jake Sullivan that Israel intends to broaden its military operation in Rafah.
Reuters reports a statement from Gallant’s office quoted him as saying during a meeting “We are committed to broadening the ground operation in Rafah to the end of dismantling Hamas and recovering the hostages.”
Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, is among the first European leaders to comment on the helicopter crash in Iran which has killed president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Duda cited the 2010 Smolensk plane crash, which killed 96 people, including the then-Polish president Lech Kaczyński, and wrote that Poles know the feeling of shock after the sudden loss of political leaders. He said “Therefore, with special understanding, we join the relatives of the victims and the Iranian nation in prayer and grief.”
Jestem głęboko poruszony wiadomością o tragicznej śmierci Prezydenta Iranu Pana Ebrahima Raisiego wraz z delegacją rządową, w katastrofie lotniczej.
— Andrzej Duda (@AndrzejDuda) May 20, 2024
Niewiele narodów ma w swojej historii takie tragiczne karty. Ale my, Polacy, straszliwie doświadczeni w 2010 roku katastrofą…
Iran declares five days of mourning as Mohammad Mokhber appointed interim head of executive branch
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced five days of public mourning for president Ebrahim Raisi after his death in a helicopter crash and confirmed Mohammad Mokhber as interim head of the country’s executive branch.
Iran now has a maximum period of 50 days before a presidential election must be held to choose Raisi’s successor, Reuters reports.
“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” Khamenei said in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.
“Mokhber will manage the executive branch and is obliged to arrange with the heads of the legislative and judicial branches to elect a new president within a maximum of 50 days,” he said.
According to Article 131 of Iran’s constitution, a council consisting of the first vice president, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary must prepare the way for the election of a new president.
Mokhber, like Raisi was, is seen as close to Khamenei.
Janez Lenarčič, the European commissioner for crisis management, has defended the bloc’s decision to provide satellite mapping assistance to Iran.
“The provision of a Copernicus EMS satellite mapping upon request for facilitating a search and rescue operation is not an act of political support to any regime or establishment. It is simply an expression of the most basic humanity,” he wrote on social media.
The provision of a @CopernicusEMS satellite mapping upon request for facilitating a search and rescue operation is not an act of political support to any regime or establishment. It is simply an expression of the most basic humanity.
— Janez Lenarčič (@JanezLenarcic) May 20, 2024
Yesterday, Lenarčič, said the EU had activated the Copernicus rapid response mapping system in response to a request for assistance from Iran, using the hashtag “EUSolidarity”. The post elicited criticism, with Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders responding: “EU solidarity with evil.”
Israel has not formally commented on the deaths of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, but unnamed officials have stressed to news outlets that the country was not involved.
Israel’s spy agency, the Mossad, has been blamed for several assassinations and bombings inside Iran in recent years, and its air force has bombed Iranian assets in Lebanon and Syria, but the country rarely comments on such activity.
Israel’s analysis so far appears to be that the unexpected demise of the two top regime figures is unlikely to significantly alter its long-running cold war with Tehran: the Islamic Republic’s foreign, defence and nuclear policies are ultimately the purview of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Internal power struggles created by the sudden vacuum, however, could draw Tehran’s attention away from the war in Gaza. Iran-allied groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have all attacked Israel with drones or rockets since the war broke out last year, and a war of attrition with the powerful Tehran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah is simmering on Israel’s northern border.
“This is not bad news for Israel. However, events in Iran will probably move at a different pace than those around us. Under a positive scenario, initially, the government in Tehran may be more concerned with internal matters and will put less pressure on Hezbollah to maintain an active military front against the Israel Defense Forces,” Amos Harel, a military analyst, wrote in leftwing daily Haaretz.
Last month Iran launched an unprecedented direct missile and drone attack on Israel, authorised by Raisi, which it said was in retaliation for an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Ali Bagheri Kani, formerly deputy foreign minister, is reported by Iranian media to have been appointed foreign minister, to replace Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who was killed in yesterday’s helicopter crash. Bagheri Kani has previously acted as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator.
More details soon …
Iran has declared five days of national mourning, local media reports.
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi killed in helicopter crash – what we know
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has been killed in a helicopter crash near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan. Search and rescue teams have recovered bodies from the wreckage, and said there were no survivors. Contact had been lost with the aircraft on Sunday as it navigated fog-covered mountains in north-west Iran.
Foreign minister Hossein Amir-abdollahian was also among those killed. The governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards were also named by local media as among the dead. A total of nine people were on board the aircraft, according to Tasnim news agency.
Iran’s vice-president, Mohammad Mokhber is expected to become the country’s interim president who will help organise a presidential election that should take place within 50 days of the president’s death.
World leaders, including China’s president Xi Jinping, Russian president Vladmir Putin and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have all offered condolences to Iran on the death of the 63-year-old hardline cleric who became Iran’s president in June 2021. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Raisi had been a “true, reliable friend” of Russia.
Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early on Sunday to inaugurate a dam with the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third that the two nations have built on the Aras River.
An Israeli source, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, ruled out Israel’s involvement. In April Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel, authorised by Raisi, which it said was in retaliation for what it considered to be an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Lebanon has declared three days of mourning. Both Hamas and Hezbollah have also issued statements offering condolences to Iran.
Updated
More world leaders have been offering their condolences to Iran after the country’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, was killed in a helicopter crash yesterday. The crash happened in a remote area near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, and also killed foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian among other officials.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey stood by Iran at this difficult time, saying “As a colleague who personally witnessed his efforts for the peace of the Iranian people and our region during his time in power, I remember Mr. Raisi with respect and gratitude.”
China’s foreign ministry said that president Xi Jinping had expressed his condolences, and Tass reports that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin had sent a message to Iran which said:
Please accept our deepest condolences in connection with the enormous tragedy that befell the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran – the plane crash that claimed the life of president Ebrahim Raisi, as well as the lives of a number of other prominent statesmen of your country.
Earlier, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Raisi had been a “true, reliable friend” of Russia.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Iran and Pakistan after Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.
Away from Iran for a second, Reuters reports that Qatar’s minister of state at the foreign ministry, Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, said on Monday that there was no political will for a ceasefire deal while Israeli troops remain on the ground in Gaza.
Lebanon has announced three days of national mourning for Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi.
Reuters is reporting that an Israeli official has told the news agency it was not involved in the helicopter crash which has killed Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi.
Israel rarely officially comments on its activities outside its border, which in recent months have included strikes inside Lebanon, Syria and Iran.
In April Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel, authorised by Raisi, which it said was in retaliation for what it considered to be an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on 1 April that killed a senior figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards and eight other officers.
Russia's Lavrov: Raisi was a 'true reliable friend' of Russia
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi had been a “true, reliable friend” of Russia, Reuters reports.
It quotes Lavrov saying:
In Russia, the president of Iran Ebrahim Raisi and the minister of foreign affairs of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were known as true, reliable friends of our country. Their role in strengthening mutually beneficial Russian-Iranian cooperation and trusting partnership is invaluable. We sincerely extend our condolences to the families and friends of the victims, as well as to the entire friendly people of Iran. Our thoughts and hearts are with you in this sad hour.
While the president of the European Council has offered “sincere condolences” to Iran on the death of Ebrahim Raisi [See 7.39 BST], by contrast Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders posted on social media this morning that “I hope Iran will soon become a secular state again, with freedom for the Iranian people, and without an oppressive and barbaric Islamic mullah regime.”
I hope #Iran will soon become a secular state again, with #freedom for the Iranian people and without an oppressive and barbaric Islamic mullah regime.
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) May 20, 2024
Hamas has issued a statement thanking Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian for their support in its war against Israel after their deaths yesterday. Reuters reports the group said:
These leaders supported the legitimate struggle of our people against the Zionist entity, provided valued support to the Palestinian resistance, and made tireless efforts in solidarity and support in all forums and fields for our people in the steadfast Gaza Strip. They also made significant political and diplomatic efforts to stop the Zionist aggression against our Palestinian people.
The European Council president, Charles Michel, said this morning that “the EU expresses its sincere condolences for the death of president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, as well as other members of their delegation and crew in a helicopter accident.”
“Our thoughts go to the families,” he added.
The EU expresses its sincere condolences for the death of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Abdollahian, as well as other members of their delegation and crew in a helicopter accident. Our thoughts go to the families.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) May 20, 2024
Russia’s embassy in Tehran on Monday has also expressed condolences over the death of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a crash after his helicopter went down in mountains close to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan yesterday. As president, Raisi supplied Russia with arms for use in its invasion of Ukraine.
Updated
Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE, has said his country stands in solidarity with Iran at what he described as a “difficult time”, and extended condolences to the Iranian government and the people of Iran, Reuters reports.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog for the next few hours. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Vice-president Mohammad Mokhber has led an emergency cabinet meeting following news of the death of President Raisi in a helicopter crash, state media is reporting.
In a statement, the government extended its condolences to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Iranian nation and said it would continue to operate “without disruption”, according to Press TV.
Ministers also paid tribute to the late president and his “tireless efforts”, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Who is Mohammad Mokhber, expected to be Iran's new interim president?
As Iran’s vice president, Mohammad Mokhber is expected to become the country’s interim president who will help organise a presidential election that should take place within 50 days of the president’s death.
Here’s what to know about him according to Reuters:
Born on 1 September 1955, Mokhber, like Raisi, is seen as close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has the last say in all matters of state. Mokhber became first vice president in 2021 when Raisi was elected president.
Mokhber was part of a team of Iranian officials who visited Moscow in October and agreed to supply surface-to-surface missiles and more drones to Russia’s military, sources told Reuters at the time. The team also included two senior officials from Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme National Security Council.
Mokhber had previously been head of Setad, an investment fund linked to the supreme leader.
In 2010, the European Union included Mokhber on a list of individuals and entities it was sanctioning for alleged involvement in “nuclear or ballistic missile activities”. Two years later, it removed him from the list.
In 2013, the US Treasury Department added Setad and 37 companies it oversaw to a list of sanctioned entities.
Setad, whose full name is Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam, or the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was set up under an order issued by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei’s predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It ordered aides to sell and manage properties supposedly abandoned in the chaotic years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and channel the bulk of the proceeds to charity.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency has a few more details about the other people on board the helicopter when it crashed; there were nine people in total.
According to Tasnim, they included East Azerbaijan governor Malek Rahmati and Maj Gen Seyed Mehdi Mousavi, head of the president’s security team. A pilot, co-pilot and a technician were also on board.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Martyred in Helicopter Crash
— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) May 20, 2024
#Iranian President Ebrahim #Raisi martyred in a helicopter crash in the Varzaqan region of East Azerbaijan province.
Raisi was accompanied by Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-Hashem, the Friday Imam of Tabriz, Foreign… pic.twitter.com/Iabakmhnlm
Summary
If you’re just joining us, here is a summary of the latest developments in Iran, where it’s just gone 9am.
Iranian state-run media have confirmed the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash in the province of East Azerbaijan on Sunday as they headed towards the city of Tabriz. “The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said.
The pair were returning from Azerbaijan, where they had attended the inauguration of a dam alongside President Ilham Aliyev, when the helicopter crashed in a mountainous region amid poor weather conditions.
The government has yet to make an official statement but the state-run news agency Irna reported that an urgent cabinet meeting had been called and a statement was expected soon.
After an hours-long search hampered by fog and rain, rescuers found the burnt-out wreckage of the helicopter on a mountainside. The head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Pir Hossein Kolivand, said as rescuers approached the wreckage, that there were “no signs of life”.
A total of nine people were on board the aircraft, according to Tasnim news agency, including the governor of East Azerbaijan, Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to East Azarbaijan province.
On Sunday, before the wreckage had been found, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranians to “not worry” about the leadership of the Islamic republic, saying “there will be no disruption in the country’s work”.
The president is believed to have been travelling in Bell 212 helicopter. Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
If a president dies in office, article 131 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution says that the first vice president – in this case Mohammad Mokhber – takes over, with the confirmation of the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran. A council consisting of the first vice president, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary must arrange an election for a new president within a maximum period of 50 days.
Countries including Russia, Turkey and India had expressed concern and offered assistance after reports that the helicopter carrying Raisi had gone missing and after his death was confirmed expressions of condolence also began to come in.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said on X that he is “shocked by his tragic demise” and that his “contribution to strengthening India-Iran bilateral relationship will always be remembered.
Before news of Raisi’s death a US state department spokesperson said only that, “We are closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister”. US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation, his spokesperson said.
Updated
What happens next?
If a president dies in office, article 131 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution says that the first vice president – who is Mohammad Mokhber – takes over, with the confirmation of the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran.
A council consisting of the first vice president, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary must arrange an election for a new president within a maximum period of 50 days, Reuters reports.
Raisi was elected president in 2021 and, under the usual timetable, a presidential election had been due to take place in 2025. Under constitutional rules, it can now be expected to take place by early July.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has extended his condolences to President Raisi’s family and the Iranian people, saying in a post on X that he is “shocked by his tragic demise”.
Deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic demise of Dr. Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His contribution to strengthening India-Iran bilateral relationship will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family and the people of Iran.…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 20, 2024
Who was foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian?
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, was a hard-liner close to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who confronted the west while also overseeing indirect talks with the US over the country’s nuclear program. The Associated Press reports further:
Amir-Abdollahian represented the hard-line shift in Iran after the collapse of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers after then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord. He served under President Ebrahim Raisi, a protégé of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and followed their policies.
However, AmirAbdollahian also was involved in efforts to reach a détente with regional rival Saudi Arabia in 2023, a move eclipsed months later by tensions that arose over the Israel-Hamas war. But he remained close to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, once praising the late Gen. Qassem Soleimani, slain in a US drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.
“You should thank the Islamic Republic and Qassem Soleimani because Soleimani has contributed to world peace and security,” Amir-Abdollahian once said. “If there was no Islamic Republic, your metro stations and gathering centres in Brussels, London and Paris would not be safe.”
Amir-Abdollahian served in the foreign ministry under Ali Akbar Salehi in 2011 through 2013. He then returned for several years under foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was a key player in the nuclear deal reached under the administration of the relative moderate President Hassan Rouhani.
But Zarif and Amir-Abdollahian had a falling out, likely over internal differences in Iran’s foreign policy. Zarif offered him the ambassadorship to Oman, still a strategically important post given the sultanate long serving as an interlocutor between Iran and the west. But Amir-Abdollahian refused.
He became foreign minister under Raisi with his election in 2021. He backed the Iranian government position, even as mass protests swept the country in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had been earlier detained over allegedly not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities. The months-long security crackdown that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained.
In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death.
During the Israel-Hamas war, he met with foreign officials and the leader of Hamas. He also threatened retaliation against Israel and praised an April attack on Israel. He also oversaw Iran’s response to a brief exchange of airstrikes with Iran‘s nuclear-armed neighbor Pakistan and worked on diplomacy with the Taliban in Afghanistan, with whom Iran had tense relations.
Updated
Iranian state television has released this screen grab from video footage from inside the helicopter before it crashed. It shows foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the right.
• This post was amended at 13.01 BST on 20 May 2024. An earlier version misidentified the man on the left as President Ebrahim Raisi.
Updated
State TV says president has died in helicopter crash
Iranian state-run television is reporting that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash alongside foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
The pair were confirmed dead after the crash in a mountainous area in the province of East Azerbaijan, Press TV reported, without citing a source. The report follows similar reports from other Iranian media including the Mehr and Tasnim news agencies as well as the Reuters news agency.
No immediate cause was given for the crash, which took place amid foggy conditions on Sunday as the president was returning from a trip to neighbouring Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam.
The governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and the representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to East Azarbaijan province as well as bodyguards were also on board, the state-run Irna news agency reported.
Updated
Some media report Raisi killed in helicopter crash
Some media are reporting that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died when their helicopter crashed, but there has been no official confirmation as yet.
The two were killed when the helicopter crashed on a mountain in heavy fog in the province of East Azerbaijan, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. He asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject, the wire reported.
“President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Iran’s Mehr news agency meanwhile reported that all passengers on board “were martyred”.
It said others on board included the governor of East Azerbaijan, Malek Rahmati, as well as Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to East Azarbaijan province. Several other people were also on board, Mehr reported.
A screen grab from a video released by the Iranian Red Crescent shows the helicopter wreckage:
Reuters has put together some background on the Bell 212 helicopter in which Raisi was believed to have been travelling when it crashed. It is the civilian version of the ubiquitous Vietnam War-era UH-1N “Twin Huey,” and is in wide use globally by both governments and private operators:
What are the helicopter’s origins?
Bell Helicopter (now Bell Textron, a division of Textron Inc ) developed the aircraft for the Canadian military in the late 1960s as an upgrade of the original UH-1 Iroquois. The new design used two turboshaft engines instead of one, giving it greater carrying capacity. The helicopter was introduced in 1971 and quickly adopted by both the United States and Canada, according to U.S. military training documents.
What is it used for?
As a utility helicopter - the UH in its military designation represents those words - the Bell 212 is meant to be adaptable to all sorts of situations, including carrying people, deploying aerial firefighting gear, ferrying cargo and mounting weapons.
The Iranian model that crashed on Sunday was configured to carry government passengers. Bell Helicopter advertises the latest version, the Subaru Bell 412, for police use, medical transport, troop transport, the energy industry and firefighting. According to its type certification documents with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, it can carry 15 people, including the crew.
Who uses it?
Non-military organisations that fly the Bell 212 include Japan’s Coast Guard; law enforcement agencies and fire departments in the US; Thailand’s national police; and many others. It is not clear how many Iran’s government operates, but its air force and navy have a total of 10, according to FlightGlobal’s 2024 World Air Forces directory.
Have there been any other incidents involving the Bell 212?
The most recent fatal crash of a Bell 212 was in September 2023, when a privately operated aircraft crashed off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to the Flight Safety Foundation, a non-profit focusing on aviation safety. The most recent Iranian crash of the type was in 2018, killing four people, according to the organisation’s database.
The helicopter crash comes just as Iran’s relations with Israel reach a new pitch of danger.
Last month the two countries exchanged fire, sparked by an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, and more broadly by Iran’s support for proxy groups willing to fight Israel, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Any new president will have to make big decisions over Iran’s nuclear programme.
On 9 May, Kamal Kharrazi, the supreme leader’s foreign policy advisor and former Iranian foreign minister, said Iran will consider a doctrinal shift to nuclear deterrence if Israel attacks what Iran says are civilian nuclear sites.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear inspectorate the IAEA, warned Iran to end the loose talk about developing a nuclear weapon, saying it was disturbing.
'No signs of life' detected at crash site, head of Red Crescent says
Reuters is now carrying the full quote from the head of Iran’s Red Crescent, Pir Hossein Kolivand. He told state TV:
With the discovery of the crash site, no signs of life have been detected among the helicopter’s passengers.
Iranian state TV said images from the site showed the helicopter had crashed into a mountain peak, according to Reuters.
Images published by state media including the Fars news agency shared drone images of what appeared to be the burnt out wreckage of the helicopter.
Updated
'No sign of life' at crash site, state TV says
Iranian state television is reporting that there is “no sign of life” at the helicopter crash site, according to Associated Press and Reuters.
Reuters said the head of the Red Crescent, Pir Hossein Kolivand, had told state TV there was no sign of life at the scene.
The site was across a steep valley and rescuers had yet to reach it, state media reported.
An Iranian official also told Reuters that the helicopter carrying the president was completely burned and that expectations are low that he has survived the crash.
There has been no official statement from the Iranian government yet.
Updated
If Raisi has died it will add to the sense of a country already in political transition. A new hardline parliament was only just elected on 1 March in which turnout for some of the elections fell below 10%, and was overall presented as reaching a nationwide turnout of only41% – a record low.
Reformist or moderate politicians were either disqualified or soundly beaten leaving a new and, as yet, untested division in parliament between traditional hardliners and an ultra-conservative group known as Paydari or the Steadfastness Front.
The effective exclusion of reformists from political participation in parliament for the first time since 1979 adds to the sense of a country in uncharted waters.
The cumulative disruption also comes at a time when Iran can ill afford such uncertainty as it faces western challenges over its nuclear programme, a dire economy and tense relations with other Middle Eastern states, especially with regard to relations with Israel and the US.
The possible loss of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign affairs minister, in the helicopter crash only adds to a sense of instability for a country that prided itself on control and predictability. His most likely successor is his deputy, Ali Bagheri, but hardliners may regard him as too willing to negotiate with the west over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Although Iran has not lost a president in office since the revolution in 1979, the country has a clear formal system for succession in which the first vice-president – currently Mohammad Mokhber – takes charge.
Few regard Mokhber, a banker and former deputy governor of the Khuzestan province, as presidential material. A new president should be elected within 50 days, giving the supreme leader and his entourage relatively little time to select someone that will not only become president at such a critical time, but also will be in a strong position succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself.
The immediate challenge of any new leader would be to control not just internal dissent, but the factional demands within the country to take a tougher line with the west and draw closer to Russia and China.
Wreckage of helicopter has been sighted, head of Iranian Red Crescent says
The wreckage of the helicopter carrying President Raisi has been sighted, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent has told Iranian state television.
Pir Hossein Kolivand said rescue teams were on their way to the helicopter and could see it from about two kilometres away, according to Associated Press.
“We can see the wreckage and the situation does not look good,” Reuters quoted Kolivand as saying.
The news came shortly after a Turkish drone reportedly spotted a heat source which authorities believed to be the wreckage of the helicopter. The Turkish news agency Anadolu said the coordinates had been shared with Iranian authorities and the Red Crescent said it was sending its teams to the location.
Updated
The area where the helicopter is said to have crashed is in the mountains near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, from where he was travelling back after inaugurating a new dam there.
Reuters has put together a list of reactions from around the world, with Iranian ally Russia among those expressing concern and offering to help search for the president. Others also offered help or well wishes, while the US merely said that President Joe Biden was “closely following reports”. Here’s a rundown of reactions from around the world:
TURKEY
“I convey my best wishes to our neighbour, friend and brother Iranian people and government, and I hope to receive good news from Mr Raisi and his delegation as soon as possible,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a post on X. Turkey’s disaster and emergency management authority said in a statement that Iran had requested a night vision search-and-rescue helicopter from Turkey.
CHINA
Beijing is “deeply concerned over the ‘hard landing’” of Raisi’s helicopter, the foreign ministry’s spokesperson said in a statement. Beijing “hopes President Raisi and the others aboard are safe and sound. We are closely following the situation and will provide all necessary support and assistance for Iran’s rescue efforts.”
RUSSIA
“Russia is ready to extend all necessary help in the search for the missing helicopter and the investigation of the reasons for the incident,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a comment carried by Russia’s Ria news agency. State media later reported that Russia was sending emergency equipment including two planes and helicopter and about 60 personnel.
Deeply concerned by reports regarding President Raisi’s helicopter flight today. We stand in solidarity with the Iranian people in this hour of distress, and pray for well being of the President and his entourage.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 19, 2024
US
“We are closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. A spokesperson for President Biden, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters on board Air Force One that the president had been briefed on the situation. She did not elaborate.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The European commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarcic, said the commission had activated its satellite mapping service to aid search efforts, following a request for assistance from Iran. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service provides mapping products based on satellite imagery.
AZERBAIJAN
“Today, after bidding a friendly farewell to the (visiting) President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, we were profoundly troubled by the news of a helicopter carrying the top delegation crash-landing in Iran,” President Ilham Aliyev said in Twitter post. “Our prayers to Allah Almighty are with President Ebrahim Raisi and the accompanying delegation. As a neighbour, friend, and brotherly country, the Republic of Azerbaijan stands ready to offer any assistance needed.”
KUWAIT
“We are closely following with concern the reports regarding the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and his accompanying delegation. Kuwait expresses its wishes for their safety and its support for the Islamic Republic of Iran in this critical situation,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
SAUDI ARABIA
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirms that it stands by the Islamic Republic of Iran during these difficult circumstances and is prepared to provide any assistance the Iranian services need,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. It also said the Saudi government was following news reports regarding Raisi’s helicopter with “great concern”.
QATAR
“We express the State of Qatar’s deep concern regarding the Iranian president’s helicopter experiencing a difficult landing incident,” a spokesperson for the foreign ministry said in a statement. “We affirm the State of Qatar’s readiness to provide all forms of support in the search for the Iranian president’s aircraft. We express the State of Qatar’s wishes for the safety of the Iranian president, the foreign minister and their companions.”
IRAQ
The Iraqi government said in a statement it had instructed its interior ministry, the Red Crescent and other relevant bodies to offer help to neighbouring Iran in the search mission.
Updated
Footage from Iran shows rescuers walking through thick fog as they search for the president’s helicopter. In this video, Raisi can also be seen on his visit to Azerbaijan, where he was inaugurating a dam with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
In an early morning update, Iran’s state-run news agency Irna has said that a commander from the country’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps has confirmed the detection of a heat source by a Turkish drone that is believed to be the wreckage of the president’s helicopter.
Rescue teams including from the military are combing the area, which Irna described as “rocky” and “hilly”, and have narrowed their search to a radius of 2 kilometres.
Four teams from Iran’s Red Crescent Society (IRCS) are near the crash site, Irna reported citing the head of IRCS operations, Razieh Alishvandi, but have had difficulty in approaching further due to poor weather conditions.
Earlier, IRCS chief Pirhossein Koulivand, who is leading the search and rescue operation, said that bad weather conditions and the impassability of the area were hampering the operation.
Iranians have been praying for the president, while expressions of concern come in from around the world
One Tehran citizen, a 29-year-old journalist who only gave her name as Vakili, told the news agency AFP she “feared” the worst and said it recalled previous tense moments in recent years.
“I hope they are okay and that they are found,” she said.
“It’s a strange feeling, like we felt before with Haj Qasem Soleimani,” she said, referring to revered Revolutionary Guards commander who was killed in a 2020 US drone strike in Baghdad.
“I am deeply saddened,” said another resident of the capital, a private sector employee named Hadi. “We hope that he [Raisi] and his companions are found in good health.”
One group of men knelt on the side of the street clasping strands of prayer beads and watched a video of Raisi praying, some of them visibly weeping.
“If anything happens to him we’ll be heartbroken,” said one of the men, Mehdi Seyedi. “May the prayers work and may he return to the arms of the nation safe and sound.”
Turkish drone has identified 'source of heat' suspected to be helicopter wreckage – report
A Turkish drone has identified a “source of heat suspected to be wreckage of helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi”, Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu has reported in a post on X.
Turkey had shared the coordinates with Iranian authorities, Anadolu reported.
There was no immediate comment or confirmation of the report from the Iranian side but the Irna news agency reported that rescuers were rushing to the scene.
The coordinates listed in the footage put the site about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain.
Akinci UAV identifies source of heat suspected to be wreckage of helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi and shares its coordinates with Iranian authorities pic.twitter.com/0tZtMc5oaP
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) May 20, 2024
Updated
Earlier today Iran’s state-run news agency Irna published images that it said show the helicopter carrying President Raisi as it took off from near the border with Azerbaijan on Sunday.
Travelling with him were foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, Irna reported.
Irna said Raisi was flying in a US-made Bell 212 helicopter.
Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them.
Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The photograph published by Irna shows a helicopter with a blue-and-white paint scheme previously seen in published photographs.
Who is Ebrahim Raisi?
Ebrahim Raisi is a hardliner who was instrumental in the last few years in steering Iran back towards the more uncompromising beliefs of the Islamic Republic’s revolutionary founders.
A supporter of deeply conservative values on the domestic front, in terms of foreign policy, Raisi also carved out an increasingly aggressive stance, and it was on his watch that Tehran opted to launch its recent unprecedented missile and drone strike against Israel bringing the two countries into direct and open conflict for the first time.
While he was elected president in June 2021, having represented himself as the best person to fight corruption and Iran’s economic problems, Raisi had long occupied important positions in Iran, including an alleged key role in the so-called Death Committee responsible for executing thousands of prisoners in the 1980s – a claim he has denied.
Born in 1960 into a clerical family in Mashdad, Raisi was a child of the revolution that overthrew the Shah after he had travelled to Qom to attend a Shia seminary at the age of 15, following in his father’s footsteps.
While still a young student, he joined the mass protests against the western-backed Shah in 1979 that would lead to the Islamic Revolution under the guidance of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a cleric until his dramatic return from exile in France.
In the turbulent first years of the Islamic Revolution, the young Raisi continued with his studies at the Shahid Motahari University in Tehran, where he received a doctorate in Islamic jurisprudence and law.
Joining the judiciary, Raisi, aged just 25 – like many other young men of his generation – would find himself catapulted into important office, in his case as the deputy prosecutor of Tehran.
It was while still in that role, say human rights groups, that he became one of four judges sitting on the infamous Death Committee, a secret tribunal set up in 1988 to retry thousands of prisoners, many of them members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq group.
The Iranian helicopter crash comes at a time when the country, faced by unprecedented external challenges, was already bracing itself for a change in regime with the expected demise in the next few years of its 85-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In the country’s hydra-headed leadership where power is spread in often opaque ways between clerics, politicians and army, it is the supreme leader, and not the president, that is ultimately decisive.
The presidency, however loyal to the supreme leader – and Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi is considered very loyal to Khamenei – is often cast in the role as a useful scapegoat helping the supreme leader to avoid criticism. That certainly became the fate of Raisi’s predecessor Hassan Rouhani who became a punchbag for decisions taken elsewhere.
In recent months Raisi, elected president in 2021 but in practice handpicked by the supreme leader, has been mentioned as a possible successor to Khamenei. His death, if confirmed, would instead clear a thorny path for Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
The choice is made by an 88-strong “assembly of experts”, and Raisi’s departure would certainly increase the chances of a hereditary succession in Iran, something many clerics oppose as alien to Iran’s revolutionary principles.
Full report: rescuers search for crashed helicopter carrying president and foreign minister
A helicopter carrying the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, and his foreign minister crashed on a fog-covered mountainside, with search and rescue teams rushing to the area as state media called for nationwide prayers.
State TV reported that the helicopter had been found on Sunday evening, well after dark, and quoted an official as saying that at least one passenger and one crew member had been in contact with rescuers.
Still, details were scant and sometimes conflicting, including Iranian Red Crescent rescuers later saying no helicopter had been found.
With no published information of whether the president was alive or dead, the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – who holds ultimate power in the Islamic Republic – sought to reassure the nation.
Iranians should not worry or be anxious, he said, adding: “No disruption will occur in Iran’s state affairs.”
An Iranian official, however, had told earlier Reuters that the lives of Raisi and the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian – who was travelling with him – were “at risk following the helicopter crash”. They added: “We are still hopeful, but information coming from the crash site is very concerning.”
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the search for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after a helicopter crash.
The Iranian leader was travelling in a mountainous area of East Azerbaijan province with foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian following a visit to neighbouring Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam when the crash happened.
Iranian state media blamed bad weather for the crash, which was also described initially by media as a “hard landing”, and said the conditions were complicating rescue efforts.
There have been conflicting reports on whether the helicopter has been found.
Here are the key developments:
Iranian state TV reported that the helicopter had been found by search teams. There was no update on the condition of those onboard. However, Iran’s Red Crescent later denied the state TV report. The location of the helicopter is still unknown.
The incident, which involved one helicopter in a convoy of three, was described by Iranian state television as an accident.
An unnamed Iranian official told Reuters that the lives of the president and his foreign minister were “at risk” after a “crash” as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog.
An unnamed Iranian official told state media that contact had been made on several occasions with a passenger and a crew member, but there have been no further updates.
Three rescue workers searching for the crashed helicopter were reported missing by the Red Crescent but were later accounted for. A spokesperson said the search and rescue operation will slow down as the weather is expected to get “severely cold” soon with more rain forecast. Other media reported that the rain was turning to snow.
Raisi was travelling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV described the area of the helicopter incident as being near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan. The president had been in Azerbaijan earlier on Sunday to inaugurate a dam with the country’s president Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations have built on the Aras River.
Iran’s army chief of staff, Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, said all army resources would be used for the search and rescue operations, state TV reported. Bagheri said military personnel along with the Revolutionary Guards and police had deployed teams to the area.
Iraq has instructed its interior ministry, the Red Crescent and other relevant bodies to offer help to neighbouring Iran and assist in the search. Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates also offered support.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power, sought to reassure Iranians, saying there would be no disruption to state affairs.
