Search crews report no sign of life after locating crashed helicopter carrying Iranian president

Washington — 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.

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.