Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has been confirmed killed after the helicopter he was travelling in crashed in poor weather.

The helicopter, which was also carrying Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, reprotedly went down in poor weather.

Iran’s state-run media says the bodies of President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the Governor of East Azerbaijan Province Malek Rahmati, the head of Raisi’s bodyguard team as well as other officials and bodyguards who were aboard, were found Monday morning, some hours after their helicopter crashed in Iran’s wild northwest region.  

On Sunday, President Raisi was returning from a ceremony to open the Qiz Qalasi Dam on Iran’s border with the Republic of Azerbaijan en route to the inauguration of the “Tabriz Refinery Upgrade Project” in the Dizamar forest area between the village of Ouzi and Pir Davoud when his helicopter crashed in Varzaqan region, INA reported on March 20.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf sympathized with Iranians over the incident.

Ebrahim Raisi, 63, was born in the holy city of Mashhad.  He was elected president in 2021.  Prior to that, he had served as the judiciary chief, the general prosecutor and the vice-chairman of the Assembly of Experts.  Ebrahim Raisi was also a member of the Expediency Council.