Helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi apparently crashes, search underway

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the nation’s overseas minister and different officers apparently crashed within the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a large rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest.

Raisi was touring in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV mentioned what it known as a “laborious touchdown” occurred close to Jolfa, a metropolis on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, state TV put the placement farther east close to the village of Uzi, however particulars remained contradictory.

Touring with Raisi have been Iran’s International Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and different officers and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA information company reported. One native authorities official used the phrase “crash,” however others referred to both a “laborious touchdown” or an “incident.”

Neither IRNA nor state TV supplied any info on Raisi’s situation.

Nonetheless, hard-liners urged the general public to hope for him. State TV later aired pictures of the devoted praying at Imam Reza Shrine within the metropolis of Mashhad, one in every of Shiite Islam’s holiest websites, in addition to in Qom and different areas throughout the nation. State tv’s fundamental channel aired the prayers nonstop.

“The esteemed president and firm have been on their method again aboard some helicopters and one of many helicopters was pressured to make a tough touchdown because of the dangerous climate and fog,” Inside Minister Ahmad Vahidi mentioned in feedback aired on state TV. “Varied rescue groups are on their approach to the area however due to the poor climate and fogginess it’d take time for them to succeed in the helicopter.” State TV reported that there had been heavy rain, and IRNA known as the realm a “forest.”

In an replace later Sunday, the commander of the East Azerbaijan Military Corps instructed Iran’s Tasnim information company {that a} sign was acquired from the helicopter and a cellular phone of one of many crew members on the accident web site, including that navy forces have been on their approach to the realm.

A spokesperson with the U.S. State Division instructed CBS Information on Sunday they’re intently following the experiences.

Lengthy after the solar set, Iranian authorities spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi additionally acknowledged that “we’re experiencing tough and complex situations” within the search.

“It’s the proper of the individuals and the media to pay attention to the newest information concerning the president’s helicopter accident, however contemplating the coordinates of the incident web site and the climate situations, there may be ‘no’ new information in any respect till now,” he wrote on the social platform X. “In these moments, persistence, prayer and belief in reduction teams are the way in which ahead.”

The probably crash got here as Iran below Raisi and Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on Israel final month and has enriched uranium nearer than ever to weapons-grade ranges.

Iran has additionally confronted years of mass protests in opposition to its Shiite theocracy over an ailing financial system and girls’s rights – making the second that rather more delicate for Tehran and the way forward for the nation because the Israel-Hamas struggle inflames the broader Center East.

Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one which the 2 nations constructed on the Aras River. The go to got here regardless of chilly relations between the 2 nations, together with over a gun assault on Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan’s diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran’s Shiite theocracy views as its fundamental enemy within the area.

“Azerbaijan stands prepared to supply any help wanted,” Aliyev mentioned in a publish on X. “We have been profoundly troubled by the information of a helicopter carrying the highest delegation crash-landing in Iran.” 

Iran flies a wide range of helicopters within the nation, however worldwide sanctions make it tough to acquire elements for them. Its navy air fleet additionally largely dates again to earlier than the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who previously led the nation’s judiciary. He’s considered as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a few analysts have advised he might exchange the 85-year-old chief after his demise or resignation from the function.

Raisi received Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that noticed the bottom turnout within the Islamic Republic’s historical past. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. partly over his involvement within the mass execution of hundreds of political prisoners in 1988 on the finish of the bloody Iran-Iraq struggle.

In 2022, he instructed “60 Minutes” that the sanctions, which have been put in impact by former President Donald Trump and maintained by President Biden, are “tyrannical.” 

“The brand new administration within the U.S., they declare that they’re totally different from the Trump administration,” Raisi instructed Lesley Stahl. “They’ve mentioned it of their messages to us. However we’ve not witnessed any modifications in actuality.” 

Beneath Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at practically weapons-grade ranges and hampers worldwide inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its struggle on Ukraine, in addition to launched a large drone-and-missile assault on Israel amid its struggle in opposition to Hamas within the Gaza Strip. It additionally has continued arming proxy teams within the Mideast, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. 

Extra from CBS Information