Over 60 rescue teams are searching for the Iranian president after a helicopter accident

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s convoy included three helicopters

Tehran:

Iran was plunged into uncertainty on Sunday as search and rescue teams combed a fog-shrouded mountainous area after President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter disappeared in what state media called an “accident.”

Fears for the 63-year-old ultra-conservative reportedly grew after contact was lost with the plane carrying him, as well as with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and others in East Azerbaijan province.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranians “not to worry” about the leadership of the Islamic Republic, saying “there will be no disruption in the work of the country.”

“We hope that Almighty God will return our dear President and his companions healthy to the arms of the nation,” he said in a nationally televised address as Muslim faithful prayed for Raisi’s safe return.

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Comments of concern and offers of assistance came from abroad, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey, as well as from the European Union, which activated its Rapid Deployment Mapping Service to support search efforts.

State television reported for the first time in the afternoon that there had been an “accident involving the helicopter with the president” in the Jolfa region.

“The harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have made it difficult for rescue workers to reach the accident site,” a broadcaster said, as massive search operations later continued into the night.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the helicopter “landed hard” in bad weather and it was “difficult to establish communication with the aircraft.”

He urged people to get their information “only from state television” and not to listen to foreign media channels that Iran considers hostile to the Islamic Republic.

Enormous search effort

Raisi’s convoy included three helicopters, and the other two “reached their destination safely,” the Tasnim news agency said.

More than 60 rescue teams with search dogs and drones were sent to the mountainous forest reserve of Dizmar near the town of Varzaghan, IRNA news agency reported.

The army, Revolutionary Guard and police officers were joining the search, authorities said, as television channels showed images of Red Crescent teams walking up a hill in the fog and lines of waiting emergency vehicles.

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Raisi had visited the northwestern province to inaugurate a dam project on the shared border together with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

Aliyev said in a post on X: “We were deeply disturbed by the news that a helicopter carrying the top delegation crashed in Iran.”

“Our prayers to Allah Almighty go out to President Ebrahim Raisi and the accompanying delegation,” he said, also offering “any help needed.”

Foreign countries were closely following the search at a time of high regional tensions over the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas since October 7, which also attracted other armed groups in the Middle East.

A US State Department spokesman said: “We are closely monitoring reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister in Iran,” adding that “we have no further comment at this time.”

US President Joe Biden has been informed of the crash, an American official said on condition of anonymity.

“Servant of the People”

Raisi has been president since 2021, when he succeeded the moderate Hassan Rouhani at a time when the economy was hit by U.S. sanctions over Iran’s controversial nuclear program.

There was a wave of protests in Iran sparked by the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in custody in September 2022 after she was arrested for allegedly violating the women’s dress code.

In March 2023, regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia signed a surprise agreement that restored diplomatic ties.

The Gaza war once again raised tensions in the region, and a series of tit-for-tat escalations led to Tehran firing hundreds of rockets directly at Israel in April this year.

In a speech after the dam’s inauguration on Sunday, Raisi emphasized Iran’s support for the Palestinians, a centerpiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“We believe that Palestine is the most important issue of the Muslim world, and we are convinced that the people of Iran and Azerbaijan always support the people of Palestine and Gaza and hate the Zionist regime,” Raisi said.

Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, said that “we express our full solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran, its leadership, government and people in this painful incident.”

A 37-year-old Tehran citizen, who gave his name only as Hadi, called Raisi “one of the servants of the people” and said: “We hope that he and his companions will be found in good health.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)