Iranian President Raisi confirmed dead in chopper crash; PM Modi offers condolences

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other officials accompanying them were declared dead on Monday (May 20), a day after the chopper carrying them made a hard landing in the mountainous terrain of north-western Iran.

The governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, officials and bodyguards were also aboard the chopper.

Earlier state media had reported that rescuers after reaching the crash site had “found no sign of life”.

As the sun rose on Monday, rescuers saw the helicopter from a distance of some 2 kilometers, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, told state media. He did not elaborate and the officials had been missing at that point for over 12 hours.

PM Modi offers condolences

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences in a post on X, “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. India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow.”

Who will be next President?

Raisi was seen as a protégé to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a potential successor for his position within the country's Shiite theocracy.

Under Article 131 of the Iranian constitution, the vice president takes over the position if a president dies in office albeit with the confirmation of the supreme leader.

This means, Raisi’s death has paved the way for the country's first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, to become president.

Earlier, Khamenei had publicly assured Iranians that there would be “no disruption to the operations of the country” as a result of the crash.

The incident comes as Iran, under Raisi and Supreme Khamenei, launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel last month and has enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Iran has also faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over an ailing economy and women's rights - making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country as the Israel-Hamas war inflames the wider Middle East.

Raisi was travelling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province. State TV said what it called a “hard landing” happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, state TV put it farther east near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.

Wreckage of helicopter

Early Monday morning (May 20), Turkish authorities released what they described as drone footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be wreckage of helicopter.” The coordinates listed in the footage put the fire some 20 kilometers south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain.

Footage released by the IRNA early Monday (May 20) showed what the agency described as the crash site, across a steep valley in a green mountain range. Soldiers speaking in the local Azeri language said: “There it is, we found it.”

‘No sign of life’

Shortly after, state TV in an on-screen scrolling text said: “There is no sign of life from people on board.”

It did not elaborate, but the semi-official Tasnim news agency showed rescuers using a small drone to fly over the site, with them speaking among themselves saying the same thing.

Public prayers

Hard-liners had urged the public to pray. State TV aired images of hundreds of the faithful, some with their hands outstretched in supplication, praying at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites, as well as in Qom and other locations across the country. State television's main channel aired the prayers nonstop.

In Tehran, a group of men kneeling on the side of the street clasped 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.”

IRNA called the area a “forest” and the region is known to be mountainous as well. State TV aired images of SUVs racing through a wooded area and said they were being hampered by poor weather conditions, including heavy rain and wind. Rescuers could be seen walking in the fog and mist.

Khamenei himself also urged the public to pray.

“We hope that God the Almighty returns the dear president and his colleagues in full health to the arms of the nation,” Khamenei said, drawing an “amen” from the worshippers he was addressing.

Succession

However, the supreme leader also stressed the business of Iran's government would continue no matter what. Under the Iranian constitution, Iran's first vice president takes over if the president dies with Khamenei's assent, and a new presidential election would be called within 50 days. First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber already had begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi's absence, state media reported.

Raisi – protégé of Khamenei

Raisi, 63, a hard-liner who formerly led the country's judiciary, is viewed as a protégé of Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after Khamenei's death or resignation.

Raisi was on the border with Azerbaijan early Sunday (May 19) to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River. The visit came despite chilly relations between the two nations, including over a gun attack on Azerbaijan's Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran's Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region.

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. IRNA published images it described as Raisi taking off in what resembled a Bell helicopter, with a blue-and-white paint scheme previously seen in published photographs.

Sanctioned by US

Raisi won Iran's 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic's history. Raisi is sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Iran has witnessed mass protests against regime

Meanwhile, mass protests in the country have raged for years. The most recent involved the 2022 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.

(With inputs from agencies)