Tehran.- The helicopter carrying the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, is missing after making a “forced landing” in the northwest of the country and the president’s condition is unknown, the official IRNA agency and state television reported.
The authorities have not explained the cause of the “forced landing” and have launched an operation to locate the plane in which Raisí and other senior officials of the country were traveling, without success so far due to the adverse weather situation. “Following the announcement of the accident of the helicopter carrying the president, rescue teams have been sent,” Red Crescent president Babak Mahmoud told Iranian media.
In total, 20 rescue teams have been sent to the area of Kalibar and Warzghan, located in the province of East Azerbaijan, where the incident occurred.
The adverse weather situation and fog are making these rescue efforts difficult, explained Iran’s Interior Minister, Ahmad Vahidi.
“We are waiting for rescue teams to arrive at the scene,” Vahidi told local media. The helicopter was part of a delegation of three aircraft and traveling with the president were the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hosein Amir Abdolahian, and the governor of East Azerbaijan, Malik Rahmati, among other senior Iranian officials.
Raisí had inaugurated this Sunday a dam together with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliev, on the border between the two countries, a project that the leaders described as a step forward in bilateral relations.
Source: EFE
