Just before taking a fatal helicopter ride on Sunday, Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, and his delegation of senior officials gathered for a communal prayer. Despite a suggestion to have lunch, the president declined, citing urgency to reach their next destination. Mr. Raisi boarded the aircraft and took a window seat. The foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, paused for a photo with a crowd before takeoff. Around 1 p.m., three helicopters departed from a helipad on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, with the president’s helicopter disappearing half an hour into the flight.
Efforts to locate the missing helicopter were met with silence from passengers until one, Ayatollah Mohammad-Ali Al-Hashem, expressed distress and confusion. As a frantic 17-hour search unfolded, the government deployed security measures to prevent potential unrest, fearing disruptions similar to past uprisings. Information was tightly controlled, and media coverage was monitored to prevent speculation about the president’s fate.
The account of the events following the crash was pieced together from various sources, including government officials, state television reports, and eyewitness testimonies. The search efforts were hampered by hazardous weather conditions and difficult terrain, leading to a sense of panic among the officials involved.
In Tehran, an emergency meeting was called by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and efforts were made to maintain order and project strength in the face of uncertainty. The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance issued guidelines for media coverage, prohibiting any insinuations about the president’s well-being. Disinformation and false reports circulated, leading to confusion and conflicting narratives about the incident.
Despite the challenges, search and rescue teams continued their efforts to locate the crash site. The operation was overseen by Gen. Hossein Salami, with a sense of chaos and tension prevailing among those involved in the mission. As the night progressed, preparations were made for an official announcement the following morning, signaling a somber end to a tragic day.