Hours before the chopper crash of Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi that claimed his life and other senior officials who were on board, a video was shared by Iran state media. The video shared a glimpse of the terrain outside and the officials who were seated opposite the Iran President. 

As per reports, the chopper (US-made Bell 212 helicopter) lost contact just after 30 minutes of taking off. State TV gave no immediate cause for the crash that occurred in Iran's East Azerbaijan province.

Among the dead was Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, 60. The helicopter also carried the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Early Monday morning, Turkish authorities released what they described as drone footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be wreckage of helicopter.” The coordinates listed in the footage put the fire some 20 kilometres south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain.

The crash comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the Israel-Hamas war, during which Raisi, who was 63, under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel just last month.

(With inputs from AP)