Iranian President & Foreign Minister among 9 dead in chopper crash

KATHMANDU: A helicopter crash on Sunday resulted in the deaths of nine people, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The crash also claimed the life of East Azerbaijan Province Governor Malek Rahmati.

According to Iranian state media, the Bell-212 helicopter carrying the president was almost completely burned, except for its rear section.

Rescue teams battled blizzards and challenging terrain throughout the night, finally reaching the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province in the early hours of Monday.

The helicopter went down while President Raisi was returning from the inauguration of a dam near the border with Azerbaijan.

Iranian state media said images from the site showed the helicopter crashed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word yet on the cause of the crash.

Local media reports suggested that the helicopter made a forced landing, although this has not been independently verified.

Raisi, 63, was elected president in 2021, and since taking office has ordered a tightening of morality laws, overseen a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests and pushed hard in nuclear talks with world powers.