The helicopter was located on Monday after crashing into a mountain in north-west Iran on Sunday. On Monday 20 May, several Iranian media reported that President Ebrahim Raissi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian had died in the crash

Official confirmation came from Vice-President Mohsen Mansouri via the Mehr agency after the wreckage was discovered at dawn. A message with a black flag was posted on Ebrahim Raissi’s official account on the X platform.

‘No sign of human life.’

State television said there were ‘no signs that the helicopter’s passengers are alive’ after the crashed aircraft was found on the mountainside. Pirhossein Koolivand, head of the Red Crescent, said that ‘the situation is not good’ as the rescue effort approached the crash site.

The search, complicated by the weather conditions, is being conducted by 73 rescue teams in a mountainous area with rain and thick fog. Turkey and Russia have sent rescue workers, and the European Union, at Iran’s request, has activated the CopernicusEMS rapid response mapping service to help Teheran.

Ayatollah Khamenei urges Iranians to pray

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on Iranians on Sunday to ‘hope that God brings the President and his companions back into the arms of the Nation.’ He assured that ‘the Iranian people should not worry, there will be no disruption in the administration of the country.’

The whole world is following developments closely, given Iran’s major role in the Middle East.