Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister officially confirmed dead in helicopter crash: Deputy president

Tehran on Monday confirmed the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials in a helicopter crash in the country’s northwestern province.

Iranian Deputy President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri said in a statement on his X that all on board, including the president, foreign minister, accompanying delegation, and helicopter crew, died.

Earlier, Iranian state media also confirmed the deaths of all the president and all on board the helicopter that crashed in a mountainous area of East Azerbaijan Province on Sunday afternoon.

The helicopter was also carrying Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, East Azerbaijan Province Governor Malik Rahmeti, and Tabriz Province Imam Ayatollah Ali Hashim.

Political journey of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi

Known as a jurist and religious figure, the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was born on December 14, 1960, in Mashhad. Following the 1979 revolution, he began his career as a prosecutor in 1981.

Rising swiftly in his position, Raisi became Deputy Prosecutor General of Tehran at the young age of 25.

Raisi was part of a 4-member committee that, under the instruction of Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued the death sentences for regime opponents imprisoned in 1988.

After Khomeini’s death and during Ali Khamenei’s tenure, Raisi rapidly climbed the ranks in state offices. He served as Tehran’s prosecutor general from 1989 to 1994.

In 1994, Raisi was appointed as the head of the State Inspectorate Organization, a position he held for 10 years.

In 2004, Raisi was appointed as the first deputy chief of the judiciary. He later became Iran’s attorney general in 2014 and was appointed as the head of the Imam Reza Shrine and Foundation in Mashhad by Khamenei in 2016.

Raisi also ran as a candidate in the presidential elections held on May 19, 2017, but lost to the then-incumbent President Hassan Rouhani.

Following the dismissal of Ayatollah Amoli Larijani from the judiciary chief position and his appointment as the head of the Expediency Discernment Council by Khamenei, Raisi assumed the vacant position of judiciary chief in March 2019.

In the presidential elections held on June 18, 2021, Raisi won by a large margin, securing 62% of the votes, thus becoming Iran’s 8th president.

Earlier on Monday, President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and their companions were declared dead after their helicopter crashed in northwestern Iran’s East Azerbaijan province on Sunday afternoon.