Iranian president's helicopter makes hard landing in NW province, accident site not located yet

TEHRAN -- A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered an accident and made a hard landing in Iran's northwestern province of East Azarbaijan on Sunday, the state-run IRIB TV reported.

The possible site of the incident has been determined to be in Varzaqan, some 670 km away from the capital Tehran, and rescue teams have been dispatched to the scene, the report said.

The convoy, comprising three helicopters, was on its way from Khoda Afarin County, where Raisi attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev earlier in the day, to the provincial capital Tabriz for the inauguration of a petrochemical complex, according to the report.

Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi attributed the helicopter's rough landing to the unfavorable weather conditions, which he said also impacted search and rescue work.

Contacts had been made with members of the team accompanying the president, but given that the region was "complicated," establishing contacts was difficult, he said.

Head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pirhossein Kolivand told IRIB TV that 40 rapid reaction teams had rushed to the scene and were monitoring the region while noting that there were difficulties in reaching the scene by land or by air due to the mountainous landscape and bad weather conditions.

Kolivand, however, said drones were being used to search the region.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri has ordered the army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the police to make all-out efforts to search for and rescue the president and his accompanying team, said the Iran Newspaper.

Iranian people gathered in holy sites, including the Imam Reza holy shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad, to pray for the health of the president and others onboard.

According to IRIB TV, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Governor of East Azarbaijan Malek Rahmati were among the people on board the helicopter.

Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said medical teams had been stationed in the possible crash site, where he made the remarks.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said in a post on social media platform X that Vice President Mohsen Mansouri and several cabinet members were on their way to Tabriz after a meeting in Tehran.

Following reports of the incident, leaders of neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan and Iraq, have expressed concern over the developments and readiness to assist in search and rescue efforts.