Helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi: Did it crash?
The helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi, President of Iran, crash-landed and the condition of the President is unknown.
The helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi was traveling through Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
State television said the incident occurred near Jolfa, a town on the border with Azerbaijan, about 600 kilometers northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
People on the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi managed to make an emergency call.
According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, which claims that the call led to believe that there were no fatalities.
The governmental news website IRNA reports that the helicopter crashed in the protected area of Dizmar, a wooded and mountainous area.
At the moment there is no confirmation as to what type of helicopter was carrying the president and his team.
The country’s emergency services are trying to reach the scene of the “incident” of the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi, state television reported.
Reaching the scene will take time, Iran’s interior minister said, due to thick fog and poor visibility, which are hampering the efforts of rescue services. Drone units are also assisting in the emergency operation.
Helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi: Did it crash?
Iranian state-linked media say three helicopters were flying inside the convoy. Two returned safely, but the third had to land in a “forced manner.”
The foreign minister and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the Iranian supreme leader’s representative in the province, are believed to have been on the same helicopter as Raisi.
Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
State television said the incident where the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi went down occurred near Jolfa, a town on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Later, television placed it further east, near the town of Uzi, but details remained contradictory. occurred near Jolfa, a town on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Television also placed it further east, near the town of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.
Authorities have not explained the cause of the “crash landing” of the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi.
An operation has been launched to locate the aircraft carrying Raisi and the other senior Iranian officials, so far without success due to adverse weather conditions.
A local government official used the word “crashed” to describe the accident, but admitted to an Iranian newspaper that he had not yet reached the place where the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi was believed to have crashed.
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Amid the uncertainty, supporters urged the population to pray for him. State television later broadcast images of worshippers praying at the shrine of Imam Reza in the city of Mashhad, one of the holiest places in Shiite Islam.
Rescue teams were trying to reach the site of the incident, according to state television, but bad weather conditions were hampering operations.
Twenty rescue teams and eight dogs have been dispatched to find the helicopter, according to emergency officials. An emergency helicopter was unable to land in the area due to thick fog and had to turn back, according to an emergency spokesman.
