Iranian state media are reporting {that a} helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi and different high officers made a “exhausting touchdown” Sunday, with no fast phrase on casualties.

The state-run IRNA media outlet reported that the plane carrying Raisi, Overseas Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and different senior officers went down in a mountainous a part of northwestern Iran as they returned from an occasion alongside Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.

Two of the three helicopters on the journey reportedly reached their vacation spot safely, however crews have been nonetheless looking for the one carrying Raisi, in keeping with state media.

Iran’s Inside Minister, Ahmad Vahidi, reportedly confirmed the “exhausting touchdown” of the president’s helicopter and stated the search-and-rescue operation is underway, according to IRNA.

“Varied rescue teams are shifting in the direction of the location, however because of the fog and unhealthy climate, it might take time to succeed in the realm. The work is below management,” Vahidi stated.

“There have been contacts with [the president’s] companions, however on condition that the realm is mountainous and it’s troublesome to ascertain contacts, we hope that the rescue groups will attain the location of the incident sooner and provides us extra info,” he added.

IRNA reported that two passengers on the flight had communicated with rescue staff.

Rescue groups are looking for the helicopter

Twenty rescue groups, together with drones and canines, had been despatched to the scene, and the Iranian navy had additionally deployed troops to help within the rescue effort, IRNA added.

The Fars Information Company posted what it stated was video footage of rescue groups that had been dispatched to the realm of the helicopter’s “exhausting touchdown.”

Earlier within the day, the Iranian authorities’s X account posted an image of Raisi seated subsequent to Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, on the opening of a dam alongside the border between the 2 nations.

A submit on Raisi’s Instagram web page requested supporters to hope for his well being and that of his fellow passengers.

Iran’s supreme chief, Ali Khamenei, said in a submit on X: “We hope Almighty God will return the revered, esteemed President and his entourage to the arms of the nation.”

Khamenei added that the federal government would proceed functioning amid the continuing state of affairs.

Raisi was elected in 2021 and is a relative hard-liner

A former cleric and choose, Raisi was elected president in 2021.

When he got here into workplace, Raisi stated Iran would proceed to honor its nuclear take care of the U.S., regardless of former President Donald Trump’s resolution to drag out of the settlement in 2018.

Nonetheless, Raisi has been considered as extra of a hard-liner than his predecessor, former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani.

Final month, Raisi celebrated Iran’s assault on Israel following an airstrike in Damascus that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran blamed Israel for the bombing, however Israel by no means claimed accountability. Israel stated it intercepted 99% of the missiles and drones Iran fired throughout its retaliatory strike.

Iran’s president is the top of its authorities, however the nation is dominated by Khamenei, its supreme chief.

Iran’s supreme chief units nationwide insurance policies and supervises their implementation and in addition controls the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and police pressure, in keeping with the Council on Overseas Relations.

Iran’s structure dictates that if the president dies whereas in workplace, the primary vice chairman takes over with the approval of the nation’s supreme chief, Reuters reported. A brand new election should then be held inside 50 days.