Search and rescue efforts underway as helicopter carrying Iran’s President Raisi suffers ‘crash landing’

A
helicopter
with Iranian
President
Ebrahim
Raisi on
board
suffered
a
“crash
landing”
on
Sunday,
state
media
reported,
with
weather
conditions
complicating
rescue
efforts.

Raisi’s
condition
was
unclear,
according
to
state
news
reports,
which
also
aired
prayers
for
his
safety.
Late
Sunday
afternoon,
Iran’s
Vice
President
Mohsen
Mansouri
reported
that
two
people
from
the
helicopter
flight
had
made
contact
with
the
rescue
team.
It
was
unknown
if
Raisi
was
one
of
those
two
passengers.

As
the
search
commenced,
Iranian
state
media
reported
the
location
of
the
helicopter
crash
had
been
identified.

The
commander
of
the
East
Azerbaijan
Army
said
that
a
signal
from
the
helicopter
and
a
cellphone
belonging
to
one
of
the
crew
members
at
the
accident
site
was
received
“minutes
ago.”

“Right
now,
we
are
leaving
with
all
the
military
forces
to
the
area
in
question,
and
I
hope
to
give
good
news
to
the
people,”
the
commander
said.

At
least
40
rescue
teams,
including
drones
and
search
dogs, have
been
deployed,
but
harsh
weather
and
heavy
fog
in
the
area
were
making
it
difficult
for
them
to
reach
the
site,
state
media
said.

Eight
ambulances
have
been
dispatched
to
the
crash
site
and
fog
was
preventing
air
rescue,
it
added.

Iran’s
foreign
minister,
Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian,
was
also
traveling
in
the
helicopter,
along
with
East
Azerbaijan’s
governor,
Malik
Rahmati,
and
Raisi’s
security
detail,
it
said.
State
TV
IRIB
said
the
helicopter
belonged
to
the
Iranian
Red
Crescent,
which
Iran’s
Interior
Minister
Ahmad
Vahidi
said
was
part
of
a
larger
convoy.
Their
condition
was
also
unknown.

“Various
rescue
groups
are
moving
towards
the
site,
but
due
to
the
fog
and
bad
weather,
it
may
take
time
to
reach
the
area,”
Vahidi
said
in
comments
aired
on
state
media.

The
officials
were
returning
from
the
border
with
the
country
of
Azerbaijan
—
in
the
northwest
of
Iran,
some
375
miles
from
the
capital
of
Tehran
—
where
Raisi
was
inaugurating
a
dam
on
the
Aras
river
with
Azerbaijan’s
President
Ilham
Aliyev.
Initially,
reports
put
the
incident
near
the
city
of
Jolfa,
but
later
said
it
was
farther
east
near
the
village
of
Uzi.
Details
remain
contradictory.

“Azerbaijan
stands
ready
to
offer
any
assistance
needed,”
Aliyev
said
in
a post
on
X.
“We
were
profoundly
troubled
by
the
news
of
a
helicopter
carrying
the
top
delegation
crash-landing
in
Iran.”

State
media
showed
Red
Crescent
rescuers
moving
through
dense
fog
with
only
a
few
meters
of
visibility,
and
said
the
helicopter
is
believed
to
have
crashed
in
a
rural
forest.

With
no
clarity
on
Raisi’s
condition,
worried
Iranians
began
offering
prayers,
with
dozens
gathering
in
the
city
of
Qom,
a
holy
city
for
Shiite
Muslims,
state
media
showed.
Raisi’s
Instagram
page
also
posted
a
story
asking
people
to
pray
for
him.

Although
Raisi
is
the
elected
president
and
leads
the
government,
he
still
answers
to
Iran’s
Supreme
Leader
Ayatollah
Ali
Khamenei,
who
serves
as
the
head
of
state.

In
case
of
Raisi’s
death,
Iran’s
First
Vice
President
Mohammad
Mokhber
will
be
next
in
line
for
the
presidency
after
receiving
a
nod
from
Khamenei.
A
new
president
then
must
be
elected
in
50
days.

The
Qiz
Qalasi
Dam
is
the
third
dam
jointly
built
by
Iran
and
neighboring
Azerbaijan
and
took
almost
two
decades
to
complete,
according
to
state
media.

While
Iran
flies
a
range
of
helicopters,
international
sanctions
have
made
it
difficult
for
Tehran
to
obtain
the
required
parts
for
them.
Most
of
the
helicopters
operated
by
the
military
date
back
to
before
the
1979
Islamic
Revolution.

Raisi,
63,
is
himself
under
sanctions
by
the
U.S.
over
his
involvement
in
the
mass
execution
of
thousands
of
political
prisoners
in
1988
at
the
end
of
the
bloody
Iran-Iraq
war.

He
was
re-elected
in
2021,
during
an
election
that
saw
the
lowest
turnout
in
the
Islamic
Republic’s
history.
A
hard-liner,
Raisi
formerly
led
the
country’s
judiciary
and
is
viewed
as
a
protégé
of
Khamenei,
and
a
likely
contender
to
the
throne.

The
death
of
Mahsa
Amini
in
police
custody
two
years
ago
triggered
a
wave
of
protests
across
the
country
that
mushroomed
into
the
largest
challenge
to
the
theocratic
regime
since
its
founding
in
1979.
The
government
rounded
up
protesters
in
a
violent
crackdown
that
killed
hundreds
of
people.

In
an interview
with
NBC
News last
year,
Raisi
defended
the
government’s
response,
warning
that
those
who
try
to
sow
instability
in
the
Islamic
Republic
would
pay
a
“big
cost.”

Under
Raisi,
Iran
now
enriches
uranium
at
nearly
weapons-grade
levels
and
hampers
international
inspections.
Iran
has
armed
Russia
in
its
war
on
Ukraine,
as
well
as
launched
a
massive
drone-and-missile
attack
on
Israel
amid
its
war
against
Hamas
in
the
Gaza
Strip.
It
also
has
continued
arming
proxy
groups
in
the
Middle
East
including
Yemen’s
Houthi
rebels
and
Lebanon’s
Hezbollah.

This
is
a
developing
story.
Check
back
for
updates.

The
Associated
Press
contributed.