Helicopter in Iranian President’s convoy crashes: Raisi’s condition is in question
The helicopter in the convoy of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian crashes, awaiting an official statement on the condition of the Iranian President
One of the helicopters accompanying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s convoy reportedly experienced a hard landing near the city of Jolfa in East Azerbaijan province. The incident occurred in the vicinity of the Pir Davud forests. The cause of the hard landing remains unknown at this time.
While it has not been announced whether Raisi was in the helicopter or not, the condition of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who was in the delegation, is also of concern.
“Inclement weather conditions and dense fog are making it difficult for rescue teams to work,” Iranian state television said in a statement.
In a statement released by the East Azerbaijan General Governorate, “Two of the three helicopters have landed, but the third helicopter has crashed. For now, I cannot provide information about the possible fatalities and injuries. We are trying to reach the region.”
According to Iranian media, “The lack of details about the accident raises the possibility that the president was on board the crashed helicopter.”
Officials said that Ayatollah Ali-Hashim, one of the passengers on board the helicopter, could be contacted by phone after the crash, indicating that those on board may have survived.
On the other hand, Iran-based Mehr News claimed that Iranian President Raisi was in good condition.
The Iranian Red Crescent has stated that drones are being deployed in an effort to reach the accident site, while the Iranian Interior Ministry has confirmed that the location of the incident has not yet been accessed. On the other hand Iranian state news agency Mehr claimed that Iranian President Raisi is “fine” & he is traveling by car as part of a motorcade to Tabriz.
A spokesman for the search and rescue teams said they could not provide air transportation due to weather conditions.
“Aerial search operations have been suspended due to bad weather conditions,” Iran’s Emergencies Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
In its latest statement, Iranian State Television announced that the helicopter carrying President Ibrahim Reisi crashed. It was announced that Foreign Minister Abdullahiyan was also on board the helicopter carrying Reisi.
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi stated that the helicopter landed hard due to bad weather conditions, while the images shared by the teams reaching the scene showed that the area was under dense fog and visibility was very low. On the other hand, no statement was made regarding Reisi’s health condition.
Source: Newsroom
