Iran’s hardline President Ebrahim Raisi, notorious for his brutal tactics, and known as the “Butcher of Tehran,” died in a helicopter crash in a remote part of the country on Sunday. He was 63.
The helicopter, which also carried Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other local officials, went down near Jolfa, close to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, approximately 375 miles northwest of Tehran.
The official Iranian news agency INRA reported that Raisi and the other passengers were traveling in a convoy of helicopters when the accident occurred.
The two other helicopters in the convoy landed safely. However, state media announced Monday morning that there were “no signs of life” at the crash site, confirming the deaths of Raisi and all others on board.
“President Raisi, the foreign minister, and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
The wreckage was discovered around dawn on Monday in a mountainous region, roughly 12 hours after the helicopter went down amid hazardous weather conditions.
