News Desk

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been involved in an accident, state media reports. The helicopter, also carrying Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, experienced a hard landing on Sunday.

Efforts to reach the crash site are hampered by difficult weather conditions, according to the Interior Minister. The condition of those on board remains unknown as no contact has been made.

Local media reports indicate President Raisi was traveling to Tabriz, in northwest Iran, after visiting the Azerbaijan border to open the Qiz Qalasi and Khodaafarin dams. Heavy fog in the mountainous and wooded area, approximately 50km north of Tabriz, is making the search challenging, with visibility reduced to about five meters.

Ahmad Alirezabeigi, an Iranian MP for Tabriz, stated that rescue workers have yet to locate the helicopter carrying the president and foreign minister, while the other two helicopters in the convoy landed safely. Other officials are also reported to be on the missing helicopter.

Footage on state television shows worshippers praying for the president’s health in the holy city of Mashhad. The US State Department is closely following the reports.

President Ebrahim Raisi, 63, was elected in 2021 and is seen as a hardline cleric and potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. In 2019, he was appointed head of the judiciary and is deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, responsible for electing the next Supreme Leader.