Helicopter carrying Iran’s President Raisi suffers a ‘hard landing’: Report | External Affairs Defence Security News

Iran President Ebrahim Raisi

Raisi was touring in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV stated what it referred to as a “onerous touchdown” occurred close to Jolfa, a metropolis on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, state TV put it farther east close to the village of Uzi, however particulars remained contradictory.

 

“The esteemed president and firm have been on their manner again aboard some helicopters and one of many helicopters was pressured to make a tough touchdown because of the unhealthy climate and fog,” Inside Minister Ahmad Vahidi stated in feedback aired on state TV. “Numerous rescue groups are on their option to the area however due to the poor climate and fogginess it’d take time for them to succeed in the helicopter.” IRNA referred to as the realm a “forest” and the area is understood to be mountainous as nicely. State TV aired pictures of SUVs racing via a wooded space and stated they have been being hampered by poor climate circumstances, together with heavy rain and wind.

 

A rescue helicopter tried to succeed in the realm the place authorities imagine Raisi’s helicopter was, nevertheless it could not land resulting from heavy mist, emergency companies spokesman Babak Yektaparast informed IRNA.

 

Lengthy after the solar set, Iranian authorities spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi acknowledged that “we’re experiencing tough and sophisticated circumstances” within the search.

 

“It’s the proper of the folks and the media to concentrate on the most recent information in regards to the president’s helicopter accident, however contemplating the coordinates of the incident web site and the climate circumstances, there isn’t any’ new information in any way till now,” he wrote on the social platform X. “In these moments, persistence, prayer and belief in reduction teams are the way in which ahead.” Khamenei himself additionally urged the general public to hope.

 

“We hope that God the Almighty returns the pricey president and his colleagues in full well being to the arms of the nation,” Khamenei stated, drawing an “amen” from the viewers he was addressing.

 

Raisi, 63, a hard-liner who previously led the nation’s judiciary, is seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a few analysts have prompt he might substitute the 85-year-old chief after Khamenei’s demise or resignation from the position.

Raisi had been on the border with Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one which the 2 nations constructed on the Aras River. The go to got here regardless of chilly relations between the 2 nations, together with over a gun assault on Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan’s diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran’s Shiite theocracy views as its predominant enemy within the area.

 

Iran flies quite a lot of helicopters within the nation, however worldwide sanctions make it tough to acquire components for them. Its navy air fleet additionally largely dates again to earlier than the 1979 Islamic Revolution. IRNA printed pictures it described as Raisi taking off in what resembled a Bell 412 helicopter, with a blue-and-white paint scheme beforehand seen in printed images.

Raisi received Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that noticed the bottom turnout within the Islamic Republic’s historical past. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. partially over his involvement within the mass execution of hundreds of political prisoners in 1988 on the finish of the bloody Iran-Iraq struggle.

 

Underneath Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at almost weapons-grade ranges and hampers worldwide inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its struggle on Ukraine, in addition to launched an enormous drone-and-missile assault on Israel amid its struggle in opposition to Hamas within the Gaza Strip. It additionally has continued arming proxy teams within the Mideast, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

In March, a United Nations investigative panel discovered that Iran was chargeable for the “bodily violence” that led to Amini’s demise.

 

President Joe Biden was briefed by aides on the Iran crash, however administration officers haven’t discovered far more than what’s being reported publicly by Iran state media, stated a senior administration official, who was not approved to remark publicly and spoke on situation of anonymity.

First Revealed: Might 19 2024 | 6:51 PM IST