Helicopter carrying Iran's president 'crashed upon landing,' state media reports
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter went down near the border with Azerbaijan. He was flying with other senior officials.
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- A helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi "crashed upon landing," state media reported.
- Harsh weather conditions and heavy fog are complicating rescue missions.
- Raisi was traveling with other senior officials.
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other senior Iranian officials "crashed upon landing" on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without providing further details.
The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said President Raisi was returning from a ceremony to open a dam on Iran's border with Azerbaijan when his helicopter crashed upon landing.
The incident is believed to have occurred near Jolfa, a city sitting on the border with Azerbaijan, some 375 miles northwest of Tehran, Iran's capital.
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, Malik Rahmati, and other officials were on board the helicopter, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
One local government official used the word "crash" to describe the incident, but he told an Iranian newspaper that he had yet visited the site himself, the Associated Press reported.
State media did not provide any information on Raisi's condition or the other officials on board the helicopter.
The harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have complicated the efforts of rescue teams, who arrived at the crash site an hour after the incident occurred, IRNA reports.
Video footage from the crash site reveals the state of the weather conditions.
UPDATE - First images of #Iran president's helicopter's area of crash landing, weather conditions unfavourable for flying, search and rescue efforts underway. https://t.co/UMQ1tVZzw0 pic.twitter.com/uCJZyQsH78
— Nagorno Karabakh Observer (@NKobserver) May 19, 2024
Raisi, 63, had been traveling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province for the inauguration of the Qizqalaasi dam on the Aras river, which runs along Iran's border with Azerbaijan.
The hardline president is seen as a favorite of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He is sanctioned by the US, at least in part because of his role in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
Last month, Iran launched more than 300 drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles at Israel.
This is a breaking news story