VOA News on Iran

Search crews reported finding no signs of life Monday after locating a helicopter that crashed while carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other senior officials in the country’s northwest, according to state media.

The helicopter crashed Sunday in bad weather near Varzaqan in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State media said the helicopter was flying President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and two other officials back to Iran from an event just across the border with Azerbaijan, where they met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to inaugurate a dam project.

Iranian media said the crashed helicopter was one of three transporting Iranian officials back from the event, where they inaugurated the Khoda Afarin and Giz Galasi hydroelectric power plants along the Aras River that marks the border between Iran and Azerbaijan. The plants are located on the stretch of river between the Azerbaijani district of Jabrayil and Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.

Aliyev posted a statement on the X platform saying he was “profoundly troubled” by the crash of Raisi’s helicopter and offering prayers and assistance as a “friend and brotherly country.”

Iranian state TV broadcasted footage of rescuers trudging in darkness through rain and mountainous terrain to try to locate the crash site on foot. There was no word on the condition of Raisi, Amirabdollahian or the other officials who had been on the helicopter.

European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič posted on the X platform that the EU activated its Copernicus Emergency Management Service satellite mapping technology in response to an Iranian request for help with the search for the helicopter.

Iran’s constitution says that if the president dies or is incapacitated, the role is filled by the first vice president, a position currently held by Mohammad Mokhber, until a new presidential election is held within 50 days. The role of president is subservient to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who retains his ultimate authority over the affairs of the country.

SEE ALSO:

Who is Ebrahim Raisi, Iran's president whose helicopter crashed in foggy weather?

Iran’s constitution says that if the president dies or is incapacitated, the role is filled by the first vice president, a position currently held by Mohammad Mokhber, until a new presidential election is held within 50 days. The role of president is subservient to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who retains his ultimate authority over the affairs of the country.

Raisi, an ultraconservative Khamenei protege seen by some observers as the supreme leader’s preferred successor, was elected president in a 2021 vote that saw his most prominent rivals barred from running and a record low turnout from the electorate.

Images posted to social media and deemed credible by VOA Persian showed opponents of Iran’s authoritarian Islamist rulers setting off fireworks in multiple locations late Sunday to celebrate the prospect of Raisi’s demise.

In one video, a female narrator identifies the location of fireworks as southern Tehran.

In another, a male narrator reacts to what he says are fireworks in the city of Saqqez in northwestern Iran’s Kurdistan province.

VOA could not independently verify the circumstances of the fireworks as it is barred from reporting inside Iran.

Earlier Sunday, Iranian state TV showed footage of government supporters gathering in different parts of the country to pray for Raisi’s safe return.

State news agency IRNA quoted Khamenei as saying: “The Iranian nation shouldn’t be worried. There will be no disruption to the operations of the country.”

IRNA also published a photo showing Vice President Mokhber chairing an emergency cabinet session to deal with the crash’s aftermath.

In a VOA Persian TV interview on Sunday, Germany-based independent Iranian journalist and researcher Reza Talebi said that if Raisi has died, Iran’s Islamist rulers may declare him a martyr who died as a result of foul play by their chief external enemies, Israel and the United States. There is no evidence of foul play.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Washington is closely following reports of the Iranian helicopter crash. “We have no further comment at this time,” the spokesperson said.

Payam Yazdian, Farhad Poulavi and Masood Farahmand of VOA’s Persian Service and VOA Azerbaijani Service chief Asgar Asgarov contributed to this report.

Fear and worry weighed on Iran Sunday as the Islamic Republic waited for news on the fate of President Ebrahim Raisi after his helicopter went missing in a foggy mountain area.

Thousands of Muslim faithful prayed for his safe return in mosques nationwide — including amid the minarets of 63-year-old Raisi's hometown, the shrine city of Mashhad.

Tearful Iranians fearing the worst were also praying for Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who was with him on the helicopter, in Valiasr Square in central Tehran.

Iran has endured years of tensions and turmoil, most recently coming to the brink of war with arch enemy Israel in a series of tit-for-tat attacks sparked by the Gaza war.

In recent times it has been shaken by waves of mass protests, while its people have endured economic pain deepened by U.S. sanctions over its contested nuclear program.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to the airwaves to comfort the nation, urging Iranians to "not worry" about the leadership of the Islamic Republic, saying "there will be no disruption in the country's work."

One Tehran citizen, a 29-year-old journalist who only gave her name as Vakili, said 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 as a massive search effort continued for Raisi and others aboard the helicopter in the mist-shrouded hills of East Azerbaijan province.

A strange feeling

"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 U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.

Expressions of concern and offers to help the search effort poured in from regional powers, including Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia.

While U.S. President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation, the European Union activated its satellite mapping program to help in the effort to find the helicopter.

"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."

The helicopter suffered an accident as Raisi was heading to the northern city of Tabriz after he inaugurated a dam project on the border with Azerbaijan, state media said.

The presidential convoy included three helicopters, of which two landed safely but one vanished.

Poor weather conditions complicated communication with the helicopter carrying Raisi and the other officials.

State media soon reported "an accident" over the province's Jolfa region, while some officials referred to a "hard landing."

Iranians were glued to TV screens and their smartphones for updates, as footage showed rescue teams moving up a slope through dense fog and drizzling rain, using dogs and drones.

Military personnel along with the Revolutionary Guards and police had also deployed teams to the area, said army chief-of-staff Mohammad Bagheri.

As the nation waited, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said rescue teams were dealing with a "steep and forested slope" where "visibility is very limited."

"The rescue forces unfortunately have yet to reach the desired point," he was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying.

"We hope that with prayers of the dear people we reach the accident site as soon as possible."

Rumors and speculation quickly swirled around social media in Iran over the fate of Raisi and his companions.

Vahidi urged Iranians not to trust information relayed by channels hostile to the Islamic Republic and to get their information "from state television only."