{"id":41999,"date":"2024-05-19T18:03:15","date_gmt":"2024-05-19T18:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/who-is-ebrahim-raisi-irans-hardline-president-involved-in-helicopter-crash\/"},"modified":"2024-05-19T18:03:15","modified_gmt":"2024-05-19T18:03:15","slug":"who-is-ebrahim-raisi-irans-hardline-president-involved-in-helicopter-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/who-is-ebrahim-raisi-irans-hardline-president-involved-in-helicopter-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Ebrahim Raisi: Iran\u2019s Hardline President Involved in Helicopter Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>TEHRAN, Iran, May 19<\/strong> \u2013 Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, 63, a hardliner who formerly led the country\u2019s judiciary, was involved in a helicopter crash on Sunday. State media reported that the helicopter suffered a \u201chard landing\u201d near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>Raisi is widely viewed as a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and some analysts suggest he could succeed the 85-year-old leader. He won Iran\u2019s 2021 presidential election, which had the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic\u2019s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the US, in part due to his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.<\/p>\n<p>Under Raisi\u2019s leadership, Iran has enriched uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels and hindered international inspections. His administration has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, launched a massive drone and missile attack on Israel last month, and continued to support proxy groups in the Middle East, such as Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels and Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah.<\/p>\n<p>State TV reported that Raisi was traveling in Iran\u2019s East Azerbaijan province when the incident occurred. Rescue efforts, hampered by poor weather conditions, are ongoing. An Iranian official told Reuters, \u201cWe are still hopeful, but information coming from the crash site is very concerning.\u201d The lives of Raisi and other officials on board are considered \u201cat risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The semi-official Fars news agency urged Iranians to pray for Raisi, and state TV carried prayers for his safety. Traveling with Raisi were Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan province, and other officials, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.<\/p>\n<p>Bad weather has complicated rescue efforts. The chief of staff of Iran\u2019s army ordered all resources of the army and the elite Revolutionary Guard to be deployed in the search and rescue operations. Neither IRNA nor state TV provided information on Raisi\u2019s condition. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said, \u201cVarious rescue teams are on their way to the region, but because of the poor weather and fogginess, it might take time for them to reach the helicopter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the US State Department said it was closely watching reports of the crash, and the White House stated that US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the incident.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier on Sunday, Raisi was in Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one built by the two nations on the Aras River.<\/p>\n<p>Iran flies a variety of helicopters, 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.<\/p>\n<p>The situation remains fluid, with further updates expected as rescue teams make progress in reaching the crash site. The Iranian government and public are anxiously awaiting news on the condition of their president and his entourage.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TEHRAN, Iran, May 19 \u2013 Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, 63, a hardliner who formerly led the country\u2019s judiciary, was involved in a helicopter crash on Sunday. State media reported that the helicopter suffered a \u201chard landing\u201d near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of Tehran. Raisi is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}