Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, the President of Iran, has died after the Bell 212 Helicopter, which he was onboard, crashed in the mountains of the Jofa region of East Azerbaijan. The Foreign Minister of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, was also onboard the crashed chopper.

The chopper navigated through dense fog and harsh weather and crashed in the mountains of Jofa a few minutes after taking off. The massive search operation was launched, with neighbouring states – Turkey, Iraq, and Azerbaijan offering help. The Turkish Bayraktar Akinci drone reportedly find the wreckage of the chopper in north Iran, close to its border with Azerbaijan.

The AKINCI01 – the call sign of the drone, detected heat signatures when it hovered over the crash site early this morning. The drone was first seen near Makaou Iran, and was last spotted near Van in Turkey, where it drew a crescent through its flight route, which was detected on its flight path by open-source flight tracking websites.

The Akinci Drones

The manufacturer of Akinci, Bayraktar, claims that the drone is capable of performing operations a fighter jet can carry out. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) can be used for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat operations. It has an airtime of 24 hours and reaches up to an altitude of 40,000 feet. It has a navigation system with an internal sensor fusion, which can function without depending on GPS.

The Other Home-Built Drones

Bayraktar TB2, Turkey’s homegrown drone, is a medium-altitude tactical armed drone that has a maximum ceiling of 25,000 feet and can stay in the air for 27 hours. Bayraktar TB2 is also the first-ever aircraft in its category to be exported abroad.

It is operated by Qatar, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and 30 other countries. It has fully automatic navigation and route tracking, precision automatic take-off and landing supported by internal sensor fusion, fully automatic taxi and parking, support for semi-autonomous flight modes

Bayraktar TB3 is an armed unmanned aerial vehicle system, currently being developed indigenously by Baykar and capable of takeoff and landing on short runway aircraft carriers. Besides reconnaissance and intelligence missions, the Bayraktar TB3 can launch an assault operation with smart munitions stationed under its wings.

The Bayraktar TB2 drones were spotted in Ukraine’s armour in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The drones reportedly decimated Russian tanks and infantry in the early stages of the war but as the conflict progressed, the Russians focused on ways to counter drone threats and the use of TB2 slowly withered away.

Turkey’s relationship with the US and Russia is a curious case. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hoping to acquire the Russian S-400 missile defence system and US F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, at the same time.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a commemoration for the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S drone attack in 2020 in Iraq, at the Imam Khomeini grand mosque, Jan. 3, 2024, in Tehran, Iran. Raisi, the country’s Foreign Minister and others have been found dead at the site of a helicopter crash after an hourslong search through a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported Monday, May 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash, an Iranian official and Mehr news agency reported on Monday. Below is a brief outline of what Iran’s constitution says happens when a President is incapacitated or dies in office:

Also Read: Iran helicopter crash LIVE Updates

• If a President dies in office, article 131 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution says that the first Vice President — who is Mohammad Mokhber — takes over, with the confirmation of the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of State in Iran.
• A council consisting of the first Vice President, the Speaker of Parliament and the Head of the Judiciary must arrange an election for a new President within a maximum period of 50 days.

Mr. Raisi was elected President in 2021 and, under the usual timetable, a presidential election had been due to take place in 2025. Under constitutional rules, it can now be expected to take place by early July.

Who is Mohammad Mokhber?

Here are some key facts about Mohammad Mokhber, 68, Iran’s first Vice President who became interim President on the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

• Born on Sept. 1, 1955, Mr. Mokhber, like Mr. Raisi, is seen as close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has the last say in all matters of state. Mr. Mokhber became first Vice President in 2021 when Mr. Raisi was elected President.
• Mr. Mokhber was part of a team of Iranian officials who visited Moscow in October and agreed to supply surface-to-surface missiles and more drones to Russia’s military, sources told Reuters at the time. The team also included two senior officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme National Security Council.
• Mr. Mokhber had previously been head of Setad, an investment fund linked to the Supreme Leader.
• In 2010, the European Union included Mr. Mokhber on a list of individuals and entities it was sanctioning for alleged involvement in “nuclear or ballistic missile activities”. Two years later, it removed him from the list.
• In 2013, the U.S. Treasury Department added Setad and 37 companies it oversaw to a list of sanctioned entities.