Dubai:

Iran’s late President Ebrahim Raisi is set to be buried in the holy city of Mashhad on Thursday, four days after he was killed in a helicopter crash along with foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six other people.

Raisi’s coffin was flown to Mashhad in northeast Iran after a funeral procession was held for him today morning in the eastern city of Birjand, where thousands paid their respects as his remains were driven through the streets in a motorcade.

A guard of honour stood to attention as the plane carrying Raisi’s coffin arrived in Mashhad, his hometown, where he will be laid to rest at the gold-domed Imam Reza shrine, the holiest Islamic site in Iran and revered by Shi’ite Muslims as the resting place of the 9th century Imam Ali al-Reza.

Raisi, 63, was widely seen as a candidate to succeed 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran. Mohammad Mokhber, who had been first vice president, is serving as interim president until a June election.

Eight passengers and crew were killed when the helicopter crashed in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border.

A ceremony was held to commemorate Amirabdollahian at the foreign ministry in Tehran, where acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani described him as a martyr who had “guaranteed the revolutionary nature of the foreign ministry”.

Amirabdollahian will be buried south of Tehran in the Shah Abdolazim shrine, a mausoleum where notable Iranian politicians and artists are buried.

Iran proclaimed five days of mourning for Raisi, who enacted the hardline policies of his mentor Khamenei aimed at entrenching clerical power, cracking down on opponents, and adopting a tough line on foreign policy issues such as nuclear talks with Washington to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact.

The presidential election has been scheduled for June 28.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Indian flag at half-mast as nation mourns death of Iran President Ebrahim Raisi.
| Photo Credit: PTI

A one-day state mourning is being observed across India on May 21 as a mark of respect for Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 20.

The national flag is being flown at half-mast on all official buildings with no official entertainment event during the period of State mourning.

The Iranian President, the country’s Foreign Minister and several other officials were found dead on May 20, hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, Iran state media reported.

A home ministry spokesperson said Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Hossein Amit-Abdollahian, the country’s foreign minister, passed away in a helicopter crash.

Also Read | Who is Iran’s first Vice President, Mohammad Mokhber?

“As a mark of respect to the departed dignitaries, the government of India has decided that there will be one day’s state mourning on May 21 (Tuesday) throughout India,” the spokesperson said.

“On the day of mourning, the national flag will be flown at half-mast throughout India on all buildings where the national flag is flown regularly and there will be no official entertainment on the day,” the official added.

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.

In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, on May 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Rescuers on May 20 found a helicopter that was carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and other officials that had apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran the day before, though “no sign of life” was detected, state media reported.

As the sun rose on Monday, rescuers saw the helicopter from a distance of some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles), the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, told state media. He did not elaborate and the officials had been missing at that point by over 12 hours.

The incident comes as Iran under Mr. Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel last month and has enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Iran has also faced years of mass protests against its Shia theocracy over an ailing economy and women’s rights — making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country as the Israel-Hamas war inflames the wider Middle East.

Mr. Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said what it called a “hard landing” happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, state TV put it farther east near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.

With Mr. Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash,” but others referred to either a “hard landing” or an “incident.”

Early Monday morning, Turkish authorities released what they described as drone footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be wreckage of helicopter.” The coordinates listed in the footage put the fire some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain.

Footage released by the IRNA early Monday showed what the agency described as the crash site, across a steep valley in a green mountain range. Soldiers speaking in the local Azeri language said: “There it is, we found it.”

Shortly after, state TV in an on-screen scrolling text said: “There is no sign of live from people on board.” It did not elaborate, but the semiofficial Tasnim news agency showed rescuers using a small drone to fly over the site, with them speaking among themselves saying the same thing.

Hard-liners had urged the public to pray. State TV aired images of hundreds of the faithful, some with their hands outstretched in supplication, praying at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites, as well as in Qom and other locations across the country. State television’s main channel aired the prayers nonstop.

In Tehran, a group of men kneeling on the side of the street clasped strands of prayer beads and watched a video of Mr. Raisi praying, some of them visibly weeping.

“If anything happens to him we’ll be heartbroken,” said one of the men, Mehdi Seyedi. ”May the prayers work and may he return to the arms of the nation safe and sound.”

IRNA called the area a “forest” and the region is known to be mountainous as well. State TV aired images of SUVs racing through a wooded area and said they were being hampered by poor weather conditions, including heavy rain and wind. Rescuers could be seen walking in the fog and mist.

Mr. Khamenei himself also urged the public to pray.

“We hope that God the Almighty returns the dear president and his colleagues in full health to the arms of the nation,” Mr. Khamenei said, drawing an “amen” from the worshipers he was addressing.

However, the supreme leader also stressed the business of Iran’s government would continue no matter what. Under the Iranian constitution, Iran’s vice first president takes over if the president dies with Mr. Khamenei’s assent, and a new presidential election would be called within 50 days. First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber already had begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi’s absence, state media reported.

Mr. Raisi, 63, a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary, is viewed as a protégé of Mr. Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after Khamenei’s death or resignation.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died after his helicopter crashed in the mountains yesterday. Raisi was in line to be Iran’s next supreme leader, along with a clampdown on morality questions.

Raisi’s hardline position had been all pervasive in domestic politics while he governed through a severe economic crisis and a historic escalation of the country’s conflict with Israel.

Raisi took over as president in 2021, succeeding the moderate Hassan Rouhani, for a term marked by crisis and conflict.

Return Of Morality Police

Raisi was personally involved in two of the darkest periods of Iranian repression.

A year after his election, the mid-ranking cleric ordered that authorities tighten the enforcement of Iran’s “hijab and chastity law” restricting women’s attire and behaviour.

Iran saw a wave of protests triggered by the death in custody of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022 after her arrest for allegedly flouting dress rules for women.

The nationwide protests presented one of the gravest challenges to Iran’s clerical rulers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Hundreds were killed, according to rights groups, including dozens of security personnel who were part of a fierce crackdown on the demonstrators as the president insisted “acts of chaos are unacceptable.”

Why Raisi Was Labelled ‘The Butcher Of Tehran’

For Iran’s exiled opposition and human rights groups, Raise’s name evoked mass executions of Marxists and other leftists in 1988, when he was deputy prosecutor of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

Inquisitions known as “death committees” were set up across Iran, comprising religious judges, prosecutors and intelligence ministry officials who decided the fate of thousands of detainees in arbitrary trials that lasted just a few minutes, according to a report by Amnesty International.

While the number of people killed across Iran was never confirmed, Amnesty said minimum estimates put it at 5,000.

The 1988 mass execution earned him the dubious soubriquet of ‘The Butcher of Tehran’.

Iran-Israel Tensions

The Gaza war sent regional tensions soaring again and a series of tit-for-tat escalations led to Tehran launching hundreds of missiles and rockets directly at Israel in April this year.

Raisi recently emphasised Iran’s support for Palestinians, a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“We believe that Palestine is the first issue of the Muslim world, and we are convinced that the people of Iran and Azerbaijan always support the people of Palestine and Gaza and hate the Zionist regime,” said Raisi.

A Conservative Hardliner

Ebrahim Raisi, 63, rose through Iran’s theocracy from hardline prosecutor to uncompromising president, overseeing a crackdown on protests at home and pushing hard in nuclear talks with world powers.

Raisi’s career started in the years after the 1979 Islamic revolution. He was close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Like Khamenei, Raisi often spoke up defiantly as Iran, the biggest Shiite Muslim power, was locked in a tense standoff with its declared arch foes the United States and Israel. Raisi has been on Washington’s sanctions blacklist for complicity in “serious human rights violations”.

Raisi took a tough stance in the nuclear negotiations, seeing a chance to win broad relief from US sanctions in return for only modest curbs on Iran’s increasingly advanced technology.

In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump had reneged on the deal Tehran had made with the six powers and restored harsh US sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to progressively violate the agreement’s nuclear limits.

Indirect talks between Tehran and US President Joe Biden’s administration to revive the deal have stalled.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed his “deep concern” at Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter going missing after making a “hard landing” and prayed for his well-being.

“Deeply concerned by reports regarding President Raisi’s helicopter flight today. We stand in solidarity with the Iranian people in this hour of distress, and pray for well being of the President and his entourage”, he said in a post on X.

Deeply concerned by reports regarding President Raisi’s helicopter flight today. We stand in solidarity with the Iranian people in this hour of distress, and pray for well being of the President and his entourage.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 19, 2024

The helicopter carrying President Raisi and several other senior leaders, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, experienced an ‘incident’ in the country’s east Azerbaijan province on Sunday following bad weather, and rescue teams were on their way to the area, reports said.

The helicopter – one of three travelling in a convoy – made a “hard landing” after it got into difficulties in heavy fog in northern Iran, as per Iranian media.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Rescuers in Iran are trying to reach a helicopter involved in “an incident” while travelling with an entourage including President Ebrahim Raisi, state television reported on May 19.

There was no immediate elaboration on what happened to the helicopter, nor who was on board. Semiofficial news agencies offered varying explanations for what was happening.

Mr. Raisi was travelling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.

Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mr. Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary. He is viewed as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role.