Sunday May 29, Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were on board a helicopter which suffered a “hard landing” in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, Iranian state media said.
Adverse weather conditions, including thick fog, hampered rescue efforts and as of 6:00 p.m. on May 19, the helicopter was still missing, reports Al Jazeera in a live dedicated to the subject.
AFP specifies that intense searches were underway late Sunday in northwestern Iran to find the helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raïssi, who was the victim of a “accident”according to officials and state media.
The research was made very difficult by the “unfavorable weather conditions”Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi said on state television.
“It may take time to reach the area”he added, while this place would be located in the forest of Dizmar, near the town of Varzaghan.
The Iraqi government has asked the country’s Interior Ministry, the Red Crescent and other relevant organizations to offer assistance to its Iranian neighbor and help it search for President Raisi’s missing helicopter, says Al-Jazeera again in its live.
The official Irna news agency said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was also among the plane’s passengers, along with the provincial governor and the region’s main imam.
The Irna agency added that “more than 20 fully equipped rescue teams including drones and rescue dogs”had “were sent there”.
The vice-president, Mohammad Mokhber, left Tehran late in the afternoon to reach Tabriz in the company of several ministers, according to the government spokesperson. In the event of the disappearance of the president, it is he who would assume the interim role pending the organization of new elections within fifty days.
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