President Raisi’s helicopter crashes in Iran: What we know so farA helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and the foreign minister crashed while travelling back from East Azerbaijan.The world is watching as Iran mobilises emergency crews to search for President Ebrahim Raisi, whose helicopter – which was travelling in a convoy – went down in a remote area near Jolfa in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
He was returning from Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, where he and the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had inaugurated a cooperative dam project, the latest sign of warming relations between the two countries. Twenty rescue teams and drones have been sent to the area where the helicopter came down.
Information is slowly emerging on this incident, but here is what we know so far.
…
Travelling with Ebrahim Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province Governor Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to East Azerbaijan, according to state media.
Did all three helicopters disappear?No, two of the three helicopters in the president’s convoy made it back safely to the city of Tabriz.
Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Housing and Transportation Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash were in the helicopters that made it back safely.
Who’s in charge in Iran while the president is missing?Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, 69, will assume power in Raisi’s absence or while he recovers, should that be needed.
The head of the trustees charged with overseeing the execution of Ayatollah Khamenei’s orders since 2007, Mokhber holds a PhD in international law.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/19/president-raisis-helicopter-crashed-in-iran-what-we-know-so-far