Initial reports indicate that a helicopter carrying the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi faced a rough landing, Iranian state TV said on Sunday, adding that rescue teams are on their way to the site. Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. 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.
Quick Read
Here’s a bullet-pointed summary of the incident involving Iran’s President:
- Incident Description: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was involved in a “hard landing” incident while traveling in a helicopter in East Azerbaijan province.
- Location: The incident occurred near Jolfa, a city on the Iran-Azerbaijan border, approximately 600 kilometers northwest of Tehran.
- Onboard: Along with Raisi, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan, and other officials were on the helicopter.
- Conditions: The area experienced poor weather, including heavy rain, fog, and some wind, which hampered rescue efforts.
- No Immediate Details: No information was provided about President Raisi’s condition following the incident.
- Background Context: Raisi had earlier inaugurated a dam with the President of Azerbaijan. Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have been tense, partly due to Azerbaijan’s diplomatic ties with Israel.
This summary highlights the key aspects of the helicopter incident involving President Raisi, without additional speculation or unverified details.
The Associated Press has the story:
Helicopter carrying Iran’s President suffers a ‘hard landing,’ state TV says
Newslooks- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) —
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without immediately elaborating.
Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. 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.
Traveling with Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash” to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.
Neither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi’s condition.
Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather conditions. There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. IRNA called the area a “forest.”
Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River. The visit came despite chilly relations between the two nations, including over a gun attack on Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan’s diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran’s Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region.
Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary. He is viewed as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role.
Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.
Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
