Iranian President Raisi Dies in Helicopter Crash

Iranian state media reported that President Ebrahim Raisi has died after the helicopter carrying him and other officials crashed in a mountainous region.

Rescue teams had been scouring the area of East Azerbaijan province when contact was lost with Raisi's helicopter, which also carried Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian among its nine passengers.

State TV announced "the servant of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people." It broadcast photos of the 63-year-old president as Quranic verses played.

The Red Crescent said after locating the wreckage, "there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive." Iranian media shared drone images appearing to show the aircraft's remains.

Officials had earlier said the helicopter made a "hard landing" in bad weather during Raisi's visit to inaugurate a dam project with Azerbaijan's president. While two other helicopters in the convoy reached their destination, the leadership went missing, prompting a massive search involving the military.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged citizens "not to worry" about Iran's leadership continuity. Condolences and offers of assistance poured in from abroad amid high regional tensions over the Gaza war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

Raisi's presidency began in 2021 as the economy reeled from U.S. sanctions over Iran's nuclear program. His tenure was roiled by anti-government protests sparked by a woman's custody death last year. In March, he helped broker a surprise deal restoring ties with Saudi Arabia.

Raisi, born in 1960 in northeast Iran's holy city of Mashhad, served as Tehran's prosecutor-general from 1989 to 1994, deputy chief of the Judicial Authority for a decade from 2004, and then national prosecutor-general in 2014.