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A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a “crash landing” on Sunday, with weather conditions complicating rescue efforts, state media reported.
State news reports said Raisi’s condition was unknown and prayers for his safety were also broadcast.
At least 40 rescue teams, including drones and search dogs, Eight ambulances were dispatched to the crash site, state media said, adding that fog was hampering air rescue efforts.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian was also on board the helicopter, along with East Azerbaijan Governor Malik Rahmati and Raisi’s security forces, the newspaper said. State television IRIB said the helicopter belonged to the Iranian Red Crescent Society and Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said it was part of a larger convoy. Their condition was also unknown.
“Different rescue groups are moving towards the scene, but due to fog and bad weather it may take some time to reach the scene,” Vahidi said in comments broadcast on state media. said. The officials were returning from the border with Azerbaijan. —In the northwestern part of the country, about 600 miles from the capital Tehran, Raisi was working with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to install a dam on the Aras River. Initially, reports said the incident occurred near the city of Jolfa, but it was later announced that it occurred further east, near the village of Uzi. Details remain contradictory.
In a post on Stated.
State media showed Red Crescent rescue teams moving through thick fog with visibility of just a few meters, and said the helicopter appeared to have crashed in a rural forest.
State media said Raisi’s condition was not clear, and worried Iranians gathered in Qom, a holy city for Shiite Muslims, and began offering prayers by the dozens. Raisi also posted a story on her Instagram page asking people to pray for her.
Raisi is an elected president who heads the government, but remains subject to the opinions of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who remains the country’s head of state.
If Raisi dies, Mohammad Mokbel, Iran’s first vice president, will become the next presidential candidate, with Ayatollah Khamenei’s consent. A new president must be elected within 50 days.
According to state media, the Qiz Karashi dam is the third dam built jointly by Iran and neighboring Azerbaijan, and took almost 20 years to complete.
Iran operates a variety of helicopters, but international sanctions have made it difficult for the Iranian government to obtain parts needed for the helicopters. Most of the helicopters operated by the military date back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Raisi, 63, is himself under sanctions from the United States for his role in the mass executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.
He was re-elected in the 2021 elections, which had the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi, a hardliner who once led the country’s judiciary and is a disciple of Ayatollah Khamenei, is seen as a possible successor to the throne.
The death of Mahsa Amini in police custody two years ago sparked a wave of protests across the country, marking the biggest challenge to the theocratic regime since it was founded in 1979. . The government rounded up protesters in a violent crackdown that left hundreds dead.
In an interview with NBC News last year, Raisi defended the government’s response and warned that those who seek to sow instability in the Islamic Republic will pay a “heavy price.”
Under Raisi, Iran is now enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels, impeding international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war against Ukraine and launched massive drone and missile attacks against Israel during its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also continues to supply weapons to proxy groups in the Middle East, including Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
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