Helicopter carrying Iran president reportedly crashes

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, ABC News reports.

Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev.

State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Rescuers were attempting to reach the crash site, but had been hampered by poor weather condition in the area.

There had been heavy rain reported with some wind.

Fars News reports that contact with the helicopter transporting the Iranian president has been lost.

According to Iran Observer, military drones have now taken off to determine the exact location of President Raisi’s helicopter.

Fresh updates from the IRNA reveal that Dizmar forest is the exact location of the accident of the helicopter carrying President Raisi.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian was also on board the helicopter.

⚡️BREAKING

One of the helicopters carrying President Raisi is believed to have crashed

It is not yet known whether the President was on board the helicopter pic.twitter.com/3dgGojQESa

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

⚡️BREAKING

IRNA confirmed that President Raisi was on board the helicopter and that rescue teams had yet to determine the location of the accident due to poor weather conditions. pic.twitter.com/F41hoTlZZQ

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

⚡️BREAKING

Fars News reports that contact with the helicopter transporting the Iranian president has been lost. pic.twitter.com/3r1HLs9Huj

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

President Raisi travelled to northern Iran today to inaugurate a dam together with the President of Azerbaijan

The area can be extremely foggy and the weather conditions are not always suitable for helicopters pic.twitter.com/QZAPIYzL0G

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

⚡️BREAKING

Military drones took off to determine the exact location of President Raisi's helicopter. pic.twitter.com/Tha2WDCyfn

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

⚡️BREAKING

IRNA reports that Dizmar forest is the exact location of the accident of the helicopter carrying President Raisi pic.twitter.com/Cf7XfKPDOZ

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

⚡️BREAKING

In addition to President Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian was also on board the helicopter pic.twitter.com/RefcV9EfoP

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

⚡️BREAKING

A rescue helicopter attempted to land near the site of President Raisi's accident, but had to return.

The fog in the area is very thick and the horizontal visibility is less than 5 meters pic.twitter.com/QLS7YDFyAz

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

⚡️BREAKING

A rescue team has just reported that the exact location of the accident has been determined, in a few minutes we will reach the last GPS signal sent by President Raisi's helicopter. pic.twitter.com/8drhs03PN0

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

The last picture taken of the helicopter carrying President Raisi pic.twitter.com/Z9VWy3hvyk

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

⚡️If President Raisi is not found alive, Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber will take his place, new elections will have to be called within the next 50 days – Iranian media pic.twitter.com/8Ij5q65hRy

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

The weather in the area of the accident is not helping the rescue operation pic.twitter.com/npyyde4FZX

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024

⚡️BREAKING

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, is holding an emergency meeting with the National Security Council pic.twitter.com/3VFdI9OvoH

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024