We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
Summary:
Iran’s state television says there is “no sign” of life among passengers of the helicopter.
An Iranian official tells Reuters: “President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash… unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead.”
The helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the foreign minister, and other officials went down in a remote northern region on the way back from an official visit to Azerbaijan earlier Sunday.
It was initially described as a "hard landing" but later was widely acknowledged as a "crash" - and as the hours pass the situation looks more grim.
Search and rescue has taken hours to reach the crash site, but little is known of the progress, amid bad weather conditions.
Foreign Ministry: "Despite adverse weather and environmental conditions, efforts by rescue teams to reach the accident site continue earnestly and with hope."
Iranian population in state of 'uncertainty' as Supreme Leader asks for prayers for Raisi and the missing officials while assuring stability within government leadership.
Various countries have sent search and rescue help, including Russia and Turkey. Iran requested a night vision search and rescue helicopter from Turkey, according to Turkish disaster management agency AFAD.
Gulf countries express concern over crash, offer help in search.
‘We hope for good news’ Iranian official tells Al Jazeera.
Iranian official told state TV that contact was made with one of the passengers and one of the crew members of the president's helicopter on several occasions.
Press TV in follow-up cites an IRGC commander to say "Reports about contacts made by President's companions after crash not factual."
Conflicting reports: "Rescue crews haven't yet located the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi," the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, Pir-Hossein Koulivand, told Iranian state TV IRINN.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander-in-chief Hossein Salami has arrived at the general area of the crash
"We're searching the area inch by inch, but the weather is very cold, foggy, and rainy. The rainfall is gradually turning into snowfall," said the commander of the Iranian Army's northwestern headquarters.
Heavy military presence reported in the capital of Tehran.
Thousands of Iranians pray for Raisi’s safe return after crash, but there are reports of others setting off fireworks.
Raisi had been in an aging Bell helicopter, with some reports saying it was over 40 years old.
US congressman gloats over Raisi crash: “Good riddance. Raisi was a murderous human rights abuser before and during his Presidency,” Rep Mike Waltz (R) wrote in a social media post.
Online speculation rampant over whether Israel or foreign intelligence could have been involved in a covert plot.
White House has been quiet but says it's aware of the developing situation; President Biden was given a briefing.
🇺🇸 #Oklahoma high school principal (Kirk Moore) seen charging at and disarming a school shooter.
The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Victor Hawkins, was a former student who said he wanted to shoot up the school “like the Columbine shooters did.” While taking down the shooter, Moore was shot in the leg. He is expected to recover.
When the Principal woke up that day, he never thought he would be tackling a gunman.
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🇨🇳🛢 How much strategic oil does the world actually have in reserve?
Global strategic crude oil inventories stood at ~2.5 BILLION barrels as of December 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
China holds by far the largest stockpile at 1,397 million barrels, more than 3 times the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve of 413 million barrels, which itself sits at only 58% of its full storage capacity of 714 million barrels.
China added an average of 1.1 million barrels per day to its strategic inventories throughout 2025, with preliminary data suggesting it continued building stockpiles in early 2026 ahead of the Iran War.
Japan holds the 3rd-largest reserve at 263 million barrels, followed by OECD European countries at 179 million barrels.
Meanwhile, the US is releasing 172 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to suppress oil prices, part of a broader 400 million barrel coordinated release agreed by 32 IEA member nations in March.
🔗 ...
🛢 JP Morgan Warns Oil Market Out of Balance, Prices Must Rise
🔸The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil flows, has removed 13.7 million barrels per day from global supply in April alone. A JP Morgan research note warns the market has no good way to replace it.
🔸Normally, spare production capacity in Saudi Arabia and the UAE acts as the market’s shock absorber. But that buffer has effectively been removed, eliminating the system’s first line of defense.
🔸With spare capacity unavailable, markets turned to inventories
➤ Global stockpiles are now being drained at ~7.1 mbd in April, an extraordinary pace, according to the note.
🔸Meanwhile, demand is collapsing because supply simply isn’t reaching users — “forced demand destruction.”The hardest hit sectors include:
▪️ Petrochemical plants across Asia are shutting down or slashing output as LPG, ethane, and naphtha flows from the Gulf collapse
▪️ Airline jet fuel ...
🛢⛽️ Global oil inventories are heading toward RECORD LOWS:
Global visible oil inventories have fallen -255 million barrels since the start of the conflict on February 27, to 7,864 million barrels.
Total estimated oil draws, including non-OECD refined products storage, have accelerated to 10.9 million barrels per day in April, the largest monthly draws on record since 2017.
Cumulative estimated draws since the start of the war now stand at 474 million barrels, with Hormuz flows holding at ~10% of normal, or 2.0 million barrels per day.
Meanwhile, even in an optimistic scenario where Strait of Hormuz flows begin recovering by late April, it is unlikely to prevent global visible inventories from reaching all-time lows, according to Goldman Sachs.
As inventories keep falling, physical oil markets are likely to require sharply higher prices for immediate delivery, since buyers cannot wait months for cheaper futures delivery when stocks are running critically low.
Goldman also warns...
