Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed killed after his helicopter crashed over the weekend. State media had previously claimed Raisi's helicopter had experienced a "hard landing," but on Monday the official IRNA news agency confirmed that he died alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
The confirmation of the deaths followed a day of murky reporting. On Sunday, Al Jazeera had reported that rescue crews were on their way to where they believe the helicopter crashed in a rural forest. Rescuers faced adverse weather conditions, including heavy fog.
A local government official on Sunday described the incident using the word “crash,” but told an Iranian newspaper he hadn’t been to the site to confirm this, AP News reported.
Before the crash, Raisi was at the inauguration ceremony of Qiz Qalasi, the third dam jointly built by Iran and Azerbaijan on the Aras River. The Iranian president met with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev ahead of the ceremony.
State TV claims that the incident occurred near Jolfa, a city bordering the nation of Azerbaijan, about 375 miles northwest of the Iranian capital Tehran. Later reports claim that it might be further east, near a village called Uzi.
Iran's constitution dictates that the first vice president, who is currently Mohammad Mokhber, will become president with the approval of the supreme leader. In the Iranian political hierarchy, the head of state is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei while the president is considered the head of the government or second in command.
Once the vice president takes charge, the country will have 50 days to hold an election for the new president.
