19 May 2024 , 19:30
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The Iranian president's helicopter has crashed in poor weather conditions with a desperate search to locate the crash site.
Disputed reports have said that the body of the missing leader has not been recovered. Iranian state media broadcast footage Sunday of rescue teams searching after a helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran.
The helicopter was said to be found following a major search mission, hours after reports of the incident first surfaced, according to Iranian state media - but there has been conflicting information over the search and if there are any survivors. Iranian state TV reported that the helicopter had been located and that an official said there was at least one passenger and crew member who had been in contact with rescuers. But Iran’s Red Crescent has denied reports the aircraft was discovered.
Medical and rescue teams from the Iranian town of Verzegan arrive at the accident site (Anadolu via Getty Images)Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said what it called a “hard landing” happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 375 miles northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, state TV put it farther east near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.
The helicopter that was carrying the Iranian president (IRNA/AFP via Getty Images)Traveling with Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash,” but others referred to either a “hard landing” or an “incident.”
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Neither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi’s condition in the hours afterward. However, hard-liners urged the public to pray for him. State TV later aired images of the faithful praying at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites, as well as in Qom and other locations across the country. State television’s main channel aired the prayers nonstop.
President Ebrahim Raisi (L) with an unidentified member of his delegation on the helicopter moments before it crashed (IRINN/AFP via Getty Images)The crash came as Iran under Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel last month and has enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
“The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog,” Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TV. “Various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter.”