Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and other officials were killed in a helicopter crash en route to the provincial capital city of Tabriz, one of the largest cities in Iran, Raisi had gone to East Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Ilham Aliyev, the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The helicopter made a “tough landing” due to dense fog in the region during a visit to the country’s northwest, close to a copper mine called Sungun. The crash site is between Jolfa and Varzaqan, around 70 to 100 kilometers away from Tabriz, 600 kilometers northwest of the capital Tehran.
In Iran, the president is considered the head of the government. He is the second-highest-ranking official in Iran, after the head of state, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, called the Supreme Leader,
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sadness over the news of the death. He wrote on X:
Raisi became the 13th president of Iran in June 2021 by securing over 18 million votes. Born in 1960, Raisi was born into a religious family. He started his political journey by engaging in revolutionary activities by participating in gatherings such as clerics’ sit-in at Tehran University, following the insult to Imam Khomeini, in a newspaper on January 7, 1978.
Muhammad Mukhba, the first vice president, assumes the duties of the president with the approval of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, as per the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The country needs to elect a new president in 50 days.
Turkey, Italy, Qatar, Yemen, and Russia, along with Azerbaijan, have expressed their grief and pledged support for Iran following the helicopter accident involving Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
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