Iranian President, Foreign Minister Confirmed Dead in Helicopter Crash

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and two other senior officials are confirmed dead when the helicopter in which they were traveling crashed in a wooded area in a region bordering Azerbaijan.

Rescuers who reached the crash site this morning reported the helicopter to be completely wrecked and that the bodies the two leaders besides other officials traveling in the ill-fated chopper could not be identified as they are completely burnt.

The president was traveling in a three helicopter convoy- two other choppers made it to safety. The helicopter convey was flying in foggy weather to Tehran. The spot of the mishap is some 600 km from the capital, Tehran.

While the cause of the crash is not known some speculation is of sabotage as the hardline president Raisi was unpopular among a section of Iranians due to his crushing of protests with an iron hand.

Doubts are also being raised over the reliability of the helicopter he was traveling in, a Bell 212 made in 1979.