The crash of a helicopter carrying Iran’s president and foreign minister on Sunday sent shock waves around the region. Details are still sketchy as it was unclear if Raisi and the other officials had survived.
The helicopter was carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, and other officials and bodyguards. Raisi was returning from a trip to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
The helicopter crashed or made an emergency landing in the Dizmar forest between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, near its border with Azerbaijan, under circumstances that remain unclear. Initially, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the helicopter was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog.
Iranian officials have said the mountainous, forested terrain and heavy fog impeded search-and-rescue operations. The president of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir-Hossein Koulivand, said 40 search teams were on the ground in the area despite “challenging weather conditions.” The search is being done by teams on the ground, as “the weather conditions have made it impossible to conduct aerial searches” via drones, Koulivand said, according to IRNA.
Raisi is seen as a protégé to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a potential successor for his position within the country’s Shiite theocracy. Under the Iranian constitution, if he died, the country’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, would become president. Khamenei has publicly assured Iranians that there would be no disruption to the operations of the country as a result of the crash.
Countries including India, Russia, Iraq, and Qatar have made formal statements of concern about Raisi’s fate and offered to assist in the search operations. Saudi Arabia, traditionally a rival of Iran, also expressed concern in a statement and said it stands by Iran in these difficult circumstances.
There was no immediate official reaction from Israel. Last month, following an Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building in Damascus that killed two Iranian generals, Tehran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel. Tensions have apparently since subsided, but the region remains on edge.
The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has drawn in other Iranian allies, with each attack and counterattack threatening to set off a wider war. The conflict between Iran and Israel has long been fueled by Iran’s controversial nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and support for armed groups opposed to Israel.
Iran’s influence extends beyond the Middle East and its rivalry with Israel. The country’s suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons has raised concerns among Western countries, leading to tensions and sanctions. Iran’s alliance with Russia following the invasion of Ukraine has also raised eyebrows, with accusations of supplying exploding drones to wreak havoc on Ukrainian cities.
As the search for the missing helicopter continues, the region holds its breath, hoping for a safe resolution to the situation and fearing the potential consequences of a tragic outcome. The delicate balance of power in the Middle East hangs in the balance, with the fate of top Iranian officials uncertain.