Crash of Iran’s president Raisi’s helicopter

Rescue crews were sent after a helicopter made a “hard landing” in the region of East Azerbaijan, according to Iranian officials.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter made a “hard landing,” according to state media. Officials claimed that while massive search efforts were underway, inclement weather was causing delays.

According to Iranian official media, the collision happened on Sunday in the northern Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, close to Jolfa.

In a meeting with the families of Revolutionary Guard Corps members, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, voiced concern over the situation and asked the nation to pray for Raisi and the other passengers in the helicopter.

He remarked, “We pray that God brings the honorable president and his friends back to the national arms.” Additionally, he reassured Iranians that there would be “no disruption” in administration and asked them not to worry.

When the event occurred, Raisi was coming back from a trip to neighboring Azerbaijan, where he had gone to officially open a dam with President Ilham Aliyev.

Three helicopters were in the Iranian president’s escort, according to state-run media, and the other two returned safely.

The Iranian supreme leader’s envoy to the region, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were all in the same chopper as Raisi, according to state media.

 

Two ministers, Ali Akbar Mehrabian for energy and Mehrdad Bazrpash for housing and transportation, were aboard the two helicopters that returned safely.

The president’s companions in the chopper were able to telephone for help, according to the semiofficial Tasnim News Agency.

The call raised hopes that the issue may be resolved “without fatalities,” according to Tasnim.

Rescue teams are dispatched

A number of rescue teams were attempting to get to the crash site, but it might take some time because of the fog and unfavorable weather, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on state television.

Vahidi stated that radio contact had been established with the helicopter, but he did not provide any other information and implied that lines of communication had been severed.

“All the facilities, equipment and capacities of the army, the army corps and the police command should be used to provide relief and search for the helicopter of the president and his companions,” Major-General Mohammad Bagheri, the head of Iran’s armed forces, declared later on Sunday.

The president’s helicopter is thought to have crashed in the forested and hilly Dizmar Protected Area, according to government news website IRNA.

From Tehran, the capital of Iran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar observed, “Now it’s foggy, it’s rainy, and the authorities are saying that this bad weather is going to continue until [Monday] night.”

“These rescue teams’ mission to get to the helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi is going to be pretty difficult,” Serdar remarked.

 

crash of Iran’s president Raisi’s helicopter

A US State Department official stated that the country was “closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister” as details about the incident started to come in.

According to US media sites, the representative stated, “We have no further comment at this time.”

The European Council President Charles Michel said that he was “monitoring the situation closely” in a social media post.

“A feeling of uncertainty” is looming over the Iranian capital, according to political expert Abas Aslani of the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies.

“Everyone is curious about the specifics and wants to know what happened,” Aslani stated.

“As time passes, hopes are dwindling because the weather is getting worse and it is growing darker.”

 

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