DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A helicopter wearing Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “difficult touchdown” on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, with out elaborating. Some started urging the general public to hope for Raisi and the others on board as rescue crews sped via a misty, rural wooded area the place his helicopter used to be believed to be.
The most probably crash comes as Iran underneath Raisi and Splendid Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei introduced an exceptional drone-and-missile assault on Israel simply ultimate month and has enriched uranium nearer than ever to weapons-grade ranges. In the meantime, Iran has confronted years of mass protests in opposition to its Shiite theocracy over an in poor health economic system and ladies’s rights — making the instant that a lot more delicate for Tehran and the way forward for the rustic because the Israel-Hamas warfare inflames the broader Heart East.
Raisi used to be touring in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV mentioned the incident took place close to Jolfa, a town at the border with with the country 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 main points remained contradictory.
Touring with Raisi have been Iran’s International Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and different officers and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA information company reported. One native executive respectable used the phrase “crash” to explain the incident, however he stated to an Iranian newspaper that he had but to achieve the web site himself.
Neither IRNA nor state TV presented any data on Raisi’s situation within the hours later on. Alternatively, hard-liners suggested the general public to hope for him. State TV later aired pictures of the trustworthy praying at Imam Reza Shrine within the town of Mashhad, one in all Shiite Islam’s holiest websites, in addition to in Qom and different places around the nation.
“The esteemed president and corporate have been on their long ago aboard some helicopters and probably the most helicopters used to be pressured to make a tough touchdown because of the unhealthy climate and fog,” Inner Minister Ahmad Vahidi mentioned in feedback aired on state TV. “More than a few rescue groups are on their approach to the area however on account of the deficient climate and fogginess it will take time for them to achieve the helicopter.”
He added: “The area is a bit of (rugged) and it’s tricky to make touch. We’re looking ahead to rescue groups to achieve the touchdown web site and provides us additional information.”
Rescuers have been making an attempt to achieve the web site, state TV mentioned, however were hampered by way of deficient climate prerequisites. There were heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. IRNA referred to as the world a “wooded area” and the area is understood to be mountainous as neatly. State TV aired pictures of SUVs racing via a wooded space.
A rescue helicopter attempted to achieve the world the place government imagine Raisi’s helicopter used to be, however it couldn’t land because of the heavy mist, emergency services and products spokesman Babak Yektaparast instructed IRNA.
Raisi were at the border with Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the 3rd person who the 2 countries constructed at the Aras River. The discuss with got here in spite of cold family members between the 2 countries, together with over a gun assault on Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan’s diplomatic family members with Israel, which Iran’s Shiite theocracy perspectives as its primary enemy within the area.
Iran flies quite a few helicopters within the nation, however world sanctions make it tricky to procure portions for them. Its army air fleet additionally in large part dates again to sooner than the 1979 Islamic Revolution. IRNA printed pictures it described as Raisi commencing in what resembled a Bell 412 helicopter, with a blue-and-white paint scheme up to now observed in printed images.
Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who previously led the rustic’s judiciary. He’s considered as a protégé of Khamenei and a few analysts have recommended he may exchange the 85-year-old chief after his demise or resignation from the position.
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 way of the U.S. partially over his involvement within the mass execution of 1000’s of political prisoners in 1988 on the finish of the bloody Iran-Iraq warfare.
Beneath Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at just about weapons-grade ranges and hampers world inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its warfare on Ukraine, in addition to introduced an enormous drone-and-missile assault on Israel amid its warfare in opposition to Hamas within the Gaza Strip. It additionally has persisted arming proxy teams within the Mideast, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
In the meantime, mass protests within the nation have raged for years. The latest concerned the 2022 demise of Mahsa Amini, a lady who were previous detained over allegedly no longer dressed in a hijab, or headband, to the liking of government. The monthslong safety crackdown that adopted the demonstrations killed greater than 500 folks and noticed over 22,000 detained.
In March, a United Countries investigative panel discovered that Iran used to be liable for the “bodily violence” that resulted in Amini’s demise.
The U.S. State Division mentioned it used to be “carefully following stories of a imaginable difficult touchdown of a helicopter in Iran wearing the Iranian president and overseas minister.”
It added: “We haven’t any additional remark right now.”
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Related Press author Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this file.
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