A search-and-rescue team looking for the remains of a crashed helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi found the heavily damaged aircraft early Monday morning—but reported “no signs of life” were detected in the area and that “no survivors” had been found, according to state media.
No official death announcement has been made as of midnight Eastern Time, though one official told Reuters that Tehran was rapidly losing hope that Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and the seven other people on board were still alive—especially given the harsh terrain and freezing conditions in the northern mountains near the country’s border with Azerbaijan, where the helicopter went down.
“President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash … unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead,” the official said.
Drone footage published by the state-run FARS News Agency and viewed by CNN showed the burnt-out hull of the aircraft, of which little remained beyond its tail. The helicopter went down on a “steep, wooded hillside,” the network reported.
Rescuers were decidedly more optimistic just hours earlier, when emergency crews received a signal from one of the crew members aboard the vessel—leading Iranian Vice President for Executive Affairs, Mohsen Mansouri, to tell FARS that he believed the incident was “not severe,” according to CNN.
State-run news agency IRNA initially described the incident as a “hard landing.”
Raisi, colloquially known as the “Butcher of Tehran,” and several others onboard were returning from a diplomatic visit to Azerbaijan when their chopper went down Sunday. Rescuers were immediately hampered by poor weather conditions in the area, and took hours to locate the site given the thick fog and muddy terrain.
Following the crash, Raisi’s official Instagram account posted a plea for Iranians to “pray for the wellbeing of the President and companions”—leading thousands to gather in the streets and elsewhere. The national broadcaster even stopped its regular programming in favor of a live feed of prayers happening across the country.
Others, however, celebrated openly as Raisi’s apparent death was reported, including some who reportedly set off fireworks in the streets.
The Iranian president was a favorite of the country’s current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and was often mentioned as a potential successor to the 85-year-old.
Iran’s military aircraft fleet is much older than many peer nations, according to the Associated Press, and it has experienced difficulty modernizing given punishing international sanctions.
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