President Ebrahim Raisi and seven other people were killed on Sunday when the helicopter they were travelling in came down near the border with Azerbaijan, Iranian authorities have confirmed.
This is what we know so far about the crash.
Why was the president flying in a helicopter?
Raisi flew to the far north-western province of East Azerbaijan on Sunday morning for the inauguration of the Qiz Qalasi and Khoda Afarin dams, a joint hydroelectric power project with neighbouring Azerbaijan on the Aras river.
He was joined at the ceremony by Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, who said he had bid a “friendly farewell” before the helicopter departed the dam area and flew towards the city of Tabriz, about 130km (80 miles) to the south.
Raisi had been scheduled to inaugurate a project at the Tabriz oil refinery.
Who else was on board the aircraft?
EPA
President Ebrahim Raisi (3rd L) was in north-western Iran for the inauguration of a dam, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (2nd R), East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati (2nd L) and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem (5th R)
There were seven people accompanying the president who also died in the crash, according to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami.
They included Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, as well as the governor of East Azerbaijan province, Malek Rahmati, and Tabriz’s Friday prayer leader, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, a senior Shia cleric who was also Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s official representative in East Azerbaijan.
Gen Salami identified the others as IRGC Brig-Gen Mohammad Mehdi Mousavi, the head of the president’s security team, pilots Col Mohsen Daryanush and Col Seyyed Taher Mostafavi, and technician Maj Behrouz Qadimi.
Where did the helicopter crash?
The incident occurred at around 13:30 local time (10:00 GMT) in a remote, mountainous area about 58km (36 miles) south of the Qiz-Qalasi Dam and 2km south-west of the village of Uzi, according to Iranian officials and photographs published by state media.
But it was not until after 16:00 local time (12:45 GMT) that Iranian state TV reported that the helicopter carrying the president had experienced what it called a “hard landing” while flying to Tabriz in heavy fog and rain.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi later confirmed that the president’s delegation had been travelling in a convoy of three helicopters and that his aircraft was “forced to make a hard landing due to bad weather conditions and fog in the area”.
He said multiple rescue teams were heading to the area but that fog, snow and rain and the local terrain were hampering the search operation.
As for the other two helicopters that were flying alongside the president’s helicopter, they had initiated a search for 15 to 20 minutes after communication was lost. They were then forced to make emergency landings, an official told state TV as the operation continued into the night.
Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri also said contacts had been made with two people on the president’s helicopter – a flight crew member and one other individual.
“This indicates that the severity of the incident was not very high, as two of the individuals inside the helicopter managed to communicate with our team multiple times,” he added, without providing further details.
However, any hopes that Raisi and his entourage had survived were dashed after daybreak on Monday.
Reuters
Photographs from the scene on Monday showed rescuers climbing a steep mountainside, shrouded in fog
What was found at the scene?
At about 05:00 (01:30 GMT), rescuers spotted the wreckage from a distance from about 2km (1.2 miles) and then took about an hour to reach it, according to the head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Pirhossein Kolivand.
Once at the crash site, which was at an altitude of around 2,200m (7,200ft), they found “no signs of life”, Mr Kolivand told state TV.
State TV also broadcast grainy footage of the crash site on a mountainside, as seen from across a valley. It appeared to show the blue-and-white tail of a helicopter next to a number of burnt shrubs.
Later, after the death of President Raisi and the others on board had been announced, state TV broadcast footage showing a correspondent standing in front of the tail and what appeared to be other parts of the wreckage.
State news agency Irna also posted video showing rescuers carrying a body wrapped in a blanket in a stretcher.
The bodies were recovered and transferred to a cemetery in Tabriz, state TV said.
The head of Iran’s crisis management agency, Mohammad Nami, told the semi-official Tasnim news agency that all of the bodies were identifiable, with “no need for DNA examinations”.
He also said Ayatollah Al-e Hashem was alive for an hour after the crash and that he made contact with the head of the president’s office before he died.
What was the cause of the crash?
Iranian authorities have so far not given a cause.
However, government ministers have described how the helicopter crashed after getting into difficulties in heavy fog and rain.
What do we know about the helicopter?
Reuters
The Bell 212 carrying President Raisi was filmed taking off from the Qiz-Qalasi Dam before the crash
State media identified it as Bell 212, a model which was developed by a US company for the Canadian military in the 1960s.
Iran’s navy and air force have a total of 10, according to FlightGlobal’s 2024 World Air Forces directory, but it is unclear how many the Iranian government operates.
State-run IRNA news agency says the helicopter carrying the president could carry six passengers and two crew.
According to the Flight Safety Foundation, the last fatal incident in Iran involving a Bell 212 before Sunday happened during a medical evacuation in April 2018.
What has been the reaction in Iran?
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – who has ultimate authority in the Islamic Republic – expressed his condolences over what he called the “bitter tragedy” and declared five days of public mourning.
“With deep sorrow and regret, I have received the bitter news of the martyrdom of the people’s president, the competent, hard-working Hajj Sayyed Ebrahim Raisi, and his esteemed entourage,” he said.
A statement issued by Iran’s cabinet said the president had “made the ultimate sacrifice on the path of serving his nation”.
Ministers also promised Iranians that they would follow Raisi’s path and there would “be no problem with management of the country”.
Raisi’s moderate rival and predecessor, Hassan Rouhani, expressed his condolences and said “a bitter page has turned in the Islamic Revolution’s book”.
Former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told state TV that the US was indirectly to blame for the crash because it had maintained years of sanctions that prevented Iran from buying new aircraft.
Who has succeeded Raisi as president?
Reuters
Mohammad Mokhber, Ebrahim Raisi’s deputy, has been named acting president
Ayatollah Khamenei confirmed that Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber had been appointed acting president, in line with Article 131 of Iran’s constitution.
The constitution states that the acting president will then jointly with the heads of parliament and the judiciary oversee an election for a new president within a maximum of 50 days.
Iran’s veteran nuclear negotiator and deputy foreign minister, Ali Baqeri Kani, was also named as the acting foreign minister, a government spokesman said.
He can serve in the post for a maximum of three months before a permanent replacement must be nominated and approved by parliament. (BBC)
Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday accused the United States of violating a fragile ceasefire during the past 48 hours in the southern coastal province of Hormozgan, without specifying the incident.
The accusation comes after US Central Command said its forces had on Monday attacked missile sites and boats in southern Iran that were trying to lay mines in the Gulf, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it fired at US aircraft trying to enter its airspace.
“The US terrorist army, continuing its illegal and unjustified actions since the ceasefire… has, in the past 48 hours, committed a gross violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.
It added that Tehran “will not leave any evil unanswered and will not hesitate to defend the Iranian nation,” without elaborating.
Tuesday’s statement came as a top Iranian delegation was in Qatar for talks as part of a “diplomatic process” aimed at ending the war with the United States, which broke out on February 28
U.S. fighter jets have reportedly struck IRGC naval boats in the Gulf after Iranian forces allegedly targeted a vessel near Bandar Abbas.
U.S. Central Command confirms “self-defense strikes” were carried out against Iranian boats and missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions in the region.
It was stated that the numbers of dead has increased from 9 to 15, with dozens still missing while others remain injured.
According to emerging reports, the strikes targeted IRGC maritime assets and defensive positions during what rapidly escalated into a major military confrontation in the region. Rescue and emergency operations are said to be ongoing as authorities continue searching for missing personnel.
Iranian and regional media report heavy explosions and gunfire near Bandar Abbas, while negotiations between Washington and Tehran continue in Qatar.
The situation is still developing, and some battlefield claims remain independently unverified.
Secret Service agents are seen after a lockdown was lifted at the White House
Spread the love
A man who opened fire Saturday near a White House security checkpoint is dead after being shot by officers who returned fire, the U.S. Secret Service said. It was the third incidence of gunfire in the vicinity of President Donald Trump in the past month.
The law enforcement agency said in a statement posted on X that the man was in the area of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue when he “pulled a weapon from his bag” shortly after 6 p.m. EDT and began firing. Secret Service officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who died at a hospital, the agency said.
The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best, said a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
According to District of Columbia court records, Best was arrested in July 2025 after he attempted to enter a different White House checkpoint without authorization, didn’t heed officers’ commands to stop, “claimed he was Jesus Christ” and said he wanted to be arrested.
An initial hearing was held and a “Pretrial Stay Away Order” was issued, typically a measure ordering a defendant not to go near a person or area before a trial. A bench warrant was issued in August after a notice of “noncompliance” against Best, who did appear for a subsequent hearing.
Latest gunfire incident around Trump
It was the third time in the past month that shots were fired near the president after incidents at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April and near the Washington Monument earlier in May.
A bystander was also struck on Saturday, but a law enforcement official said it wasn’t clear whether that person was hit by the suspect’s initial bullets or those fired subsequently by officers.
Secret Service said none of its officers were injured, and that Trump — who was at the White House at the time — was not “impacted.” Trump originally was scheduled to spend the weekend at his New Jersey golf club but changed his plans on Friday to stay at the White House instead.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that agency personnel were on the scene and “we will update the public as we’re able.”
Evidence of the shooting was visible on a sidewalk just outside the White House complex, where yellow crime scene tape snaked across the pavement and Secret Service officers placed dozens of orange evidence markers on the ground. Medical material, including what appeared to be purple surgical gloves and kits typically used by emergency medical personnel, were also seen.
Gunshots heard by journalists at the White House
Journalists working at the White House on Saturday evening reported hearing a series of gunshots and were told to seek shelter inside the press briefing room.
In a post shared on X, ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang shared dramatic video of the moment she said she heard what “sounded like dozens of gunshots” and ducked for cover. Writing that she had been performing a routine task that White House reporters do daily — filming themselves on a cellphone for a social media post — Wang’s video shows her speaking for a few seconds about Trump’s statements earlier Saturday about a potential Iran deal.
As the sounds of gunfire are heard in the background, Wang’s eyes grow wider, and she ducks down in the media tent, which is among those situated in a line along the White House driveway where broadcasters film their reports. On X, Wang’s video had been shared thousands of times as of Saturday evening, and viewed at least 3 million times.
Shooting scene not far from a deadly incident last year
The shooting scene is within walking distance of where a gunman ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard last November.
U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from the wounds she suffered in that shooting. Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, then 24, was critically wounded. Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged in that incident.
The gunfire Saturday came nearly a month after what law enforcement authorities said was an attempted assassination of the president as he attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at a Washington hotel on April 25. Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump. Allen is accused of running through a security checkpoint inside the hotel and firing a shotgun at a Secret Service officer.
Following that scare, Secret Service officers shot a suspect they said had fired at officers near the Washington Monument, several blocks from the White House. Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 4 shooting. A teenage bystander was wounded in that incident. AP
