Iranian President Raisi's last video aboard helicopter emerges moments before fatal crash

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's last video taken aboard the doomed helicopter, which crashed moments after, has emerged.Raisi, along with the country's foreign minister and other officials died in a fatal helicopter crash in the mountainous region, state media and officials said on Monday (May 20).

In the last video released by Iranian state media, Raisi was seen calmly sitting inside the helicopter moments before it went down and took his life.

ایرانی صدر ابراہیم رئیسائی کا آخری سفر، ہیلی کاپٹر حادثے سے پہلے ڈیم کے فضائی دورے کی ویڈیو۔۔!!#Iran pic.twitter.com/LOn5h1Lsdq — Khurram Iqbal (@khurram143) May 20, 2024

Raisi is seen looking down pensivelyfrom his window seat in the image.

He appears to be lost in his thoughts, innocent ofwhat's in store for him seconds later.

Raisi was accompanied by Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Friday prayer Imam Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Al-Hashem as well as other high-ranking state officials.

Here's how the incident unfolded

Raisi was confirmed dead by Iranian media outlets on Monday after his helicopter crashed on Sunday.

"The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, had an accident while serving and performing his duty for the people of Iran and was martyred," stated the local Mehr news agency.

Also Read:Iran President Raisi helicopter crash: Who all were on board the doomed chopper?

As per the report, the helicopter carrying Raisi met with an accident in the Jolfa region of East Azerbaijan province as it flew in bad weather conditions.

The accident took place in Dizmar's mountainous protected forest area near the town of Varzaghan, as reported by the official IRNA news agency.

Iran's Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand had earlier said that the helicopter had been located by the rescue teams and they were heading towards the site.

State TV had reported earlier that there were "no signs" of life among passengers "as of yet."

Raisi gained power in the presidential elections of 2021 and was believed to be close to Iran's Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei.

Watch:Ebrahim Raisi news: Raisi's helicopter Bell 212 manufactured in US; what we know about the chopper

In his term, Iran faced one of the country's biggest protests since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The protests erupted in 2022 after an Iranian woman Mahsa Amini died in police custody which led to massive demonstrations.

The government brutally hunted down the protesters for several months.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who also died in the crash,was aconservative leader who enjoyed the support of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC).

He mentored the loose coalition of militant organisations and proxies in the country, which was called the “axis of resistance.”

(With inputs from agencies)