Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has died at the age of 63 after a helicopter carrying him and other top Iranian officials crashed in a mountainous and forested area of the country in poor weather.
He was president for nearly three years, and seems to be well on track to run for re-election next year.
A total of nine people were onboard the aircraft, including the Iran foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdullahi, Governor of East Azerbaijan, Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of the leader of the Islamic Revolution to East Azerbaijan province amongst others.
Any Evidence of Sabotage?
Information about the cause of the crash are still sketchy although Iran has offered no cause for the crash nor suggested sabotage brought down the helicopter, which fell in mountainous terrain in a sudden, intense fog.
Attention has been focused more on the effects of international sanctions on the ageing air fleets of the Iranian Air force. Crippling international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for these fleets. Iran’s military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The president was travelling in a Bell 212 helicopter. The helicopter did not possess a signal system that could make it easily detectable in case of such mishap. Turkish transport minister, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu. He told reporters that Turkish authorities had checked for a signal from the helicopter upon hearing news that it had crashed and there was none received.
Insinuations about the possibility of sabotage are however high especially with the increased tension between Iran and Israel in the aftermath of the ongoing Gaza war. Israel has also been known to have targeted high ranking government officials in Iran. However, the Insinuations of sabotage are mere speculation at this stage.
A five day of mourning have been declared by the Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and in line with the constitution, a new presidential election should be called within 50 days. Meanwhile, the first vice-president, Mohammad Mokhber, has been named as interim president.
