Iranian State TV has confirmed the deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash.
All passengers and the crew of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter died in the crash, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pir Hossein Kolivand announced.
“No signs of alive passengers have been found after the discovery of the crashed helicopter location,” he said on IRIB TV channel.
The helicopter also carried Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Governor of the East Azerbaijan Province Malek Rakhmati and Tabriz Imam of Friday Prayer Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem.
The aircraft was an American made Bell 212 helicopter and is believed to have crashed into a mountain in Iran as a result of bad weather as Mr Raisi returned from a meeting with the leader of Azerbaijan.
Earlier, Iranian State TV says there has been “no sign of life” detected at the crash site of a helicopter carrying President.
“We can see the wreckage and the situation does not look good,” a Red Crescent official said.
An Iranian official told the Reuters news agency that the helicopter was “completely burned” in the crash.