Iranian president and foreign minister killed in helicopter crash

British broadcaster BBC reports that Mohammad Ali Al-Hashem, Friday Prayer Imam of Tabriz and a passenger on the helicopter, survived for a one whole hour after the crash and tried to call for help.

According to Mohammad Nami, head of Iran's Crisis Management Agency, Al-Hashem tried to make contact with the president's office to notify them of the crash.

Local media reports nine people, including the flight crew, were killed in the helicopter crash.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has shared an official statement with his his condolences to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the death of Iranian President Raisi.

Citing the helicopter crash - which claimed the life of Raisi and several others, including Iran's foreign minister - as a "great tragedy", the statement calls Raisi an "outstanding politician whose entire life was devoted to serving his Motherland."

Putin also calls Raisi a "true friend of Russia" and a "wonderful man".

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin look toward each other as they shake hands prior to their talks in Beijing, China, Thursday, May 16, 2024. CREDIT: Associated Press

Beijing has also reacted to the news of the death of the Iranian President.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has described Raisi as a "good friend" to the Chinese people, adding his "tragic death" is a "great loss to the Iranian people."

China is Iran's largest trade partner and main buyer of sanctioned oil. Iran has been a key military ally to Russia in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue team members carry the body of a victim after a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, Monday, May 20, 2024. CREDIT: Associated Press

People pray for President Ebrahim Raisi in a ceremony at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. CREDIT: Associated Press

In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue team members search for the wreckage of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after it crashed in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, Monday, May 20, 2024. Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and several other officials were found dead on Monday, hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported. CREDIT: Associated Press

In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams' vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. CREDIT: Associated Press

Another of Iran's proxies - Yemen's Houthi rebels - have also reacted to President Raisi's death.

Writing on X, Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam says Raisi's death is "a loss not only for Iran but also for the entire Islamic world and Palestine and Gaza".

He adds that Palestinians are "in dire need of the presence of such a president who continued to defend" their right to freedom.

Hezbollah, another Iran-backed group based in southern Lebanon - has also released a statement.

"Hezbollah in Lebanon extends its deepest condolences," the statement reads, adding that the group knew Raisi "closely for a long time" and that he was "a strong supporter" and "solid defender of our issues... and a protector of the resistance movements".

The death of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a helicopter crash has sent shockwaves around the region. 

But what next for Iran? How are Iranians reacting? And what will the impact of the crash be?

Read this Euronews explainer to find out more.

FILE - the late Iranian president Raisi speaks.

The funeral of President Raisi and foreign minister Amir-Abdollahian will be held on Tuesday.

That's according to the Iranian news outlet Tasnim, affiliated to the country's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

Speaking to the outlet on Monday, Iranian official Hassan Hakikian said the funeral would take place in the city of Tabriz, in northwestern Iran.

A forensic medical examination will be conducted before the funeral.

Iran has appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani as acting foreign minister, following the death of his predecessor Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

He will be acting minister till election time, holding the seat for a maximum of 50 days, according to the constitution. 

Iran's three branches of government - executive, legislative and judiciary - held an emergency meeting today after the deaths of Amir-Abdollahian and President Raisi were confirmed.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani listens to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, June 23, 2022. Credit: Associated Press

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced five days of public mourning over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in an official statement.

As expected, he has also appointed Mohammad Mokhbar as the temporary head of the executive branch.

Israel was not involved in the death of Iranian President Raisi in a helicopter crash that also killed several members of his entourage, an Israeli official told Reuters on Monday.

"It wasn't us," said the anonymous official.

Rumours began circulating on social media on Sunday that Mossad - the Israeli state's national intelligence agency - had been involved somehow in the fatal crash.

Last month, Israel and Iran traded direct attacks in a departure from their years-long shadow war, after an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital Damascus killed 13 people. Iran later responded by launching more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel.

Iran also backs the Yemen-based Houthi rebel militia group, which has been targeting Western shipping routes in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait in recent months. The Houthis say the attacks are to pressure Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Hamas has expressed its "solidarity" with the state of Iran, following a helicopter crash that killed the president, foreign minister and several senior officials.

In a statement shared by the Palestinian Quds News Network on X, the Palestinian militant group said it "shared feelings of grief and sorrow with the brotherly Iranian people"

The crash had "claimed the lives of some of the finest Iranian leaders who had a distinguished career in the renaissance of Iran," it added. 

Hamas' post also applauds Iran's role in supporting the group's "honourable positions" in the "legitimate struggle" of Palestine against Israel. 

The militant group has been at war with Israel since 7 October following its shock assault on southern Israel. 

Hamas is one of the many militant groups backed and funded by Tehran, which provides funding, weapons and training. 

Iran has been a sworn enemy of Israel since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian MEP for Renew Europe and former PM, has dubbed Raisi - who, among others, was confirmed dead in a helicopter crash on Monday - a "mass murderer" in a post on X.

The sentiment echoes that already expressed by many opponents of the Iranian regime over the the last 24 hours, who have celebrated the death of Raisi, known among them as the "butcher of Tehran".

European Council President Charles Michel has expressed his condolences for the families of the victims who died in Sunday's helicopter crash on X.

Iran's president, foreign minister and several senior regime figures were killed after the helicopter crashed in the northern East Azerbaijan province in bad weather.

Iranians across the world celebrated the disappearance and later confirmed death of president Raisi in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

The reactions are at stark odds with Iranian state media, which has halted its regular programming to show prayers being held for Raisi across the country.

But a different picture is being painted across social media.

London-based TV channel Iran International published footage of celebratory fireworks being set off in Iran. 

"Let's celebrate the good news of Ebrahim Raisi’s chopper crash," one Tehran resident can be heard saying in the video.

 "Live your life in such a way that people don't set off fireworks and give out sweets in anticipation of the news of your death," wrote lawyer and human rights activist Kaveh Shahrooz on X, commenting on more footage of people celebrating on social media

Shahrooz recently led a recent successful effort to convince Canada’s parliament to recognize the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran as a crime against humanity. Raisi played a "key role" in the execution, which killed 4,500 to 5,000 women and men, as a member of the Death Commision, according to the Atlantic Council. 

Some reports suggest the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is increasing its presence in order to curb any dissidence in the streets.

Several Iranian activists have taken to their own social media to react to news - some raise a glass to toast the new - while women's rights activist Masih Alinejad dubbed the day of the crash as "World Helicopter Day". 

This is "the only crash in history where everyone is worried if someone survived," she wrote. 

Raisi earnt the nickname the "butcher of Tehran" among critics of the Iranian regime for his role in the 1988 execution. 



India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the first foreign leaders to pay tribute to Raisi, saying he is "deeply saddened and shocked" by the news.

Iranian-American journalist, author, and women's rights activist Masih Alinejad has reacted to Raisi's death on X, callinh him "the butcher of Tehran".

Alinejad's criticism of Iran centres on the status of human rights the country especially women's rights. Time magazine named her among its 2023 honorees for Women of the Year.

According to the Iranian constitution, Iran's vice president - Mohammad Mokhber - will likely take over from president Ebrahim Raisi.

But Mokhber needs the confirmation of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran.

A council consisting of Mokhber, the speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the head of the judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei must then arrange an election for a new president within a maximum period of 50 days.

Raisi speaking in January 2024.

Iranian social activist and author Hamed Esmailiyoun, a prominent opposition figure against the Islamic Republic, has reacted to news of Raisi's death on X. 

"His [Raisi's] victims have been robbed of the opportunity to bring this criminal to justice," he wrote. 

Raisi presided over a brutal crackdown on mass protests after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was killed in 2022.

Turkey's state-run media Anadolu Agency has released footage of the crash site being found.

A drone sent by Turkey to aid the search for President Raisi's helicopter identified a source of heat, before his death was officially announced.

The Iranian government is holding an emergency meeting following news of president Raisi's death.

Iran's state-run media IRNA has confirmed the names of those killed in the helicopter crash, which made a "hard landing" on Sunday.

IRNA announced Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi and his 8-member delegation were killed, including Hossein Amir-Abdollanian, the country's foreign minister.

Seyyed Muhammad Ali Al-Hashem, representative of the Vali-e-Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), Malik Rahmati, governor of East Azerbaijan, and Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi, commander of the president's protection unit were amongst those killed.

Among those killed are also members of the president's political entourage and the helicopter crew.

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several others were killed in Sunday's helicopter crash in northern Iran, state TV says.

Rescuers have found a helicopter that was carrying Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and other officials that apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday.

"There is no sign of life from people on board," the semi-official Tasnim news reported.

It did not elaborate further.