President Raisi’s helicopter carried high-caliber names who assume the highest ranks in Iranian decision-making circles.
Three Iranian helicopters were traveling back East Azerbaijan when one went missing.
The exact circumstances of what has happened to the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, remains unclear.
President Raisi’s helicopter, which was said to have made an emergency landing in the Julfa region, northwest of the Iranian capital Tehran, carried high-caliber names who assume the highest ranks in Iranian decision-making circles.
Weather conditions during the rescue operation of the Iranian president's helicopter.
📹 via @IrnaEnglish pic.twitter.com/gXzxt6SMAX
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 19, 2024
President Raisi
Foremost among these names is Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who took office in 2021.
Previously he served as a member of the Assembly of Experts in 2007.
In 2014, he became Iran’s prosecutor general.
In 2019, he became the head of judiciary.
Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian
Also on board was Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
He is a long-standing Iranian diplomat who held several positions in the Foreign Ministry, including Director General for Gulf and Middle Eastern affairs in 2010.
Speaking to Press TV, Babak Mahmoudi, Head of the Relief and Rescue Organization of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, provides more details about the rescue operation taking place in the area where the Iranian president's helicopter is located. pic.twitter.com/3vXEfDInAc
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 19, 2024
Abdollahian also assumed the position of deputy foreign minister in charge of Arab and African affairs in 2011.
In 2021 he was appointed as the foreign minister under President Raisi.
Imam al-Hashim
Among the names on board the helicopter was Mohammad Ali al-Hashim, an imam in Tabriz and Iran’s supreme leader’s representative in East Azerbaijan province.
Al-Hashim is considered a provincial deputy in the Assembly of Experts and is a member of the provincial chamber of the Expediency Council.
Governor Rahmati
Malik Rahmati was part of the president’s team and is the governor of East Azerbaijan.
Earlier in the day, an Iranian official said the lives of President Ebrahim Raisi and the foreign minister were in danger following the helicopter accident, while Iranian state television broadcast public prayers for his safety.
Reuters quoted an Iranian official as saying the information from the site of the president’s plane crash was “very worrying, but we remain hopeful.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
