INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister were killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain and icy weather, an
Iranian official said on Monday, after search teams located the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province, Reuters reported.&President Raisi, the
foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,& the senior Iranian official told Reuters, asking not to
be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.Iran&s Mehr news agency confirmed the deaths, reporting that &all passengers of the
helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred&.An Iranian official earlier told Reuters the helicopter
carrying Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was completely burned in the crash on Sunday.State TV reported that images from
the site showed the aircraft slammed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word on the cause of the crash.State news agency
IRNA said Raisi was flying in a U.S.-made Bell 212 helicopter.Raisi, 63, was elected president in 2021, and since taking office has ordered
a tightening of morality laws, overseen a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests and pushed hard in nuclear talks with world
powers.Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power with a final say on foreign policy and Iran&s nuclear
programme, had earlier sought to reassure Iranians, saying there would be no disruption to state affairs.PRAYERS, SEARCHESRescue teams
fought blizzards and difficult terrain through the night to reach the wreckage in the early hours of Monday.&With the discovery of the crash
site, no signs of life have been detected among the helicopter&s passengers,& the head of Iran&s Red Crescent, Pirhossein Kolivand, told
state TV.Earlier, the national broadcaster had stopped all regular programming to show prayers being held for Raisi across the country, read
the report.In the early hours of Monday, it showed a rescue team, wearing bright jackets and head torches, huddled around a GPS device as
they searched a pitch-black mountainside on foot in a blizzard.Several countries expressed concern and offered assistance in any rescue.The
President Joe Biden had been briefed on reports about the crash
China said it was deeply concerned
The European Union offered emergency satellite mapping technology.HARDLINER, POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR TO KHAMENEIThe crash comes at a time of
growing dissent within Iran over an array of political, social and economic crises
Iran&s clerical rulers face international pressure over Tehran&s disputed nuclear programme and its deepening military ties with Russia
during the war in Ukraine.Since Iran&s ally Hamas attacked Israel on Oct
7, provoking Israel&s assault on Gaza, conflagrations involving Iran-aligned groups have erupted throughout the Middle East.In Iran&s dual
political system, split between the clerical establishment and the government, it is Raisi&s 85-year-old mentor Khamenei, supreme leader
since 1989, who holds decision-making power on all major policies.For years many have seen Raisi as a strong contender to succeed Khamenei,
who has endorsed Raisi&s main policies.Raisi&s victory in a closely managed election in 2021 brought all branches of power under the control
of hardliners, after eight years when the presidency had been held by pragmatist Hassan Rouhani and a nuclear deal negotiated with powers
including Washington.However, Raisi&s standing may have been dented by widespread protests against clerical rule and a failure to turn
around Iran&s economy, hamstrung by Western sanctions, Reuters reported.Raisi had been at the Azerbaijani border on Sunday to inaugurate the
Qiz-Qalasi Dam, a joint project
Azerbaijan&s President Ilham Aliyev, who said he had bid a &friendly farewell& to Raisi earlier in the day, offered assistance in the
rescue.The post Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi killed in helicopter crash first appeared on Ariana News.
