President Raisi's body recovered, taken to Tabriz

President Ibrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran. Later their bodies were recovered from the accident site. The bodies are being sent to Tabriz, the capital of Iran's East Azerbaijan province.

Pir Hossein Kolivand, head of Iran's Red Crescent Society, said this in a televised statement on Monday (May 20). He said, after the recovery of the body, the massive search and rescue operation has been declared over.

The head of the Red Crescent also told Rashtriya TV that we have started the process of transferring the bodies of the victims to Tabriz. The rescue operation is over.

In addition to President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdullahian, Governor of East Azerbaijan Province Malek Rahmati and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-Hashem, spokesman for Iran's supreme leader in the province, were on board the helicopter. They were returning to Tabriz, capital of East Azerbaijan province, after inaugurating a dam in Azerbaijan.

Incidentally, Ibrahim Raisi went to inaugurate a dam jointly built by the two countries in the border area of ​​Azerbaijan on Sunday. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev was also there. From there, Ibrahim Raisi and other officials with him were returning to Tabriz, the capital of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, with a fleet of three helicopters. En route, the helicopter carrying the president crashed in a remote mountain near the Zolfa region of East Azerbaijan. The other two helicopters reached their destination safely.