Accidents
Iran Confirms Helicopter Crash Killed Its President
The Bell 212 was part of a convoy of three

Iran’s government today confirmed the deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian when what media images show to be a Bell 212 helicopter crashed in a mountainous area of Iran's East Azerbaijan province. According to state news agency IRNA, weather conditions were poor at the time of the accident on Sunday. The Tasnim news agency added that seven other people were among the fatalities, including a local governor and a diplomat.

Iranian aviation authorities have yet to explain how they intend to conduct an accident investigation, but in the past it has declined international involvement. The Bell 212 was likely one of the military aircraft acquired by Iran in the 1970s before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 triggered the first in a series of U.S. sanctions against the country.