An ill-fated chopper carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed in the Islamic republic’s East Azerbaijan province along with top members of Iran’s ruling leadership including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Along with Amir-Abdollahian, President Raisi’s entourage in the copter also included supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s representative Mohammed Ali Ale-Hashem and East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati.
The president, minister and government officials were confirmed dead by Iran’s government Monday after hours of rigorous search efforts led by Iran Red Crescent Society.
The chopper that carried President Raisi, Iran’s foreign minister and others crashed on Sunday while flying through a mountainous terrain amid heavy fog in the Varzaqan region of the country’s East Azerbaijan province.
Here’s a detailed look at the other passengers who perished in the fatal copter crash.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who hails from the Semnan province’s Damghan town, was a hardliner pick of President Raisi’s cabinet after he assumed power in 2021.
The 60-year-old top diplomat was appointed following his uncompromising approach towards Iranian foreign policy. Educated in Tehran, he had close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) as well as its proxy networks across the Middle East.
He also served as deputy minister of foreign affairs for Arab and African affairs between 2011 and 2016. He also worked as an adviser to former parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani.
Despite being fluent in English and Arabic, Amir-Abdollahian mostly conversed in Persian during media engagements.
Mohammed Ali Ale-Hashem, who delivered sermons on Friday in Tabriz city, was a representative for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in East Azerbaijan province.Mohammed Ali Ale-Hashem, a representative of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. — Tasnim
He was born into a clerical family.
Malek Rahmati was the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. His appointment for the top post was approved by the Iranian cabinet in January this year.
Rahmati earlier served as the chief of Iran’s Privatisation Organisation. He took over the post of governor in place of Zeinolabedin Khorram following his death in January.
