The citizens of Iran are currently grieving over the demise of their President and Foreign Minister. The reports state both the political leaders lost their lives in a helicopter crash. As soon as this news surfaced in the limelight, it instantly went viral triggering people to know more about it and each detail of the unfortunate incident. According to an Iranian official, the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister have died on the spot. During the incident, they were travelling into the helicopter which collided with a crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog.
Initially, the death news of both political leaders was claimed to be wrong but now the Iranian state media has confirmed it. The official states that “No survivors” were found at the crash site of the chopper. As we mentioned above, President Raisi was not alone as he was accompanied by Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollhian including other senior officials. The moment, the crash incident was reported, a search operation started and after hours of searching through mountain terrain in the middle of inclement weather, rescue teams located the collided helicopter. An official informed the news agency that “President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash.”
The state television stated on Monday, 20 May 2024 that “The servant of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom while serving the people.” The lethal and horrifying incident happened at the time when President Raisi was coming back to the Iranian city of Tabriz after he and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev integrated the Qiz Qalasi Dam on their shared border. The video of the incident has been posted online which is currently going viral on social media and trending on Twitter. Netizens are paying tribute online and grieving over the sudden demise of the Iranian President and other political leaders.
The reports further added that the chopper that was carrying President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian and other officials lost contact before the accident. The pilot lost his contact estimated half an hour into the flight. As soon as the contact was lost, the officials immediately came into action and it sparked instant concerns and a huge search and extensive rescue operation. The reports of Iran’s state media at first quoted the situation as merely an “accident”. Deputy President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri of Iran states that 2 members of the entourage of the president had contacted rescue teams, giving the idea that the incident might not be that serious.
The media report of Iran states that before officially announcing the passing of the Iranian President and his officials, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari asserted that the Tabriz Friday prayer leader had managed to have a conversation with the 63-years-old President Raisi through phone from the downed helicopter. The report states “Mehdi Safari, who was present in one of the three helicopters carrying President Raisi’s entourage, states the Tabriz Friday prayer leader had made a phone call to the president from inside the crashed copter.”
Apart from it, the next in the line for the presidency is First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, if approved by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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