- President Raisi had been in Azerbaijan for the inauguration of a dam and was returning in a convoy of aircraft
- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several more officials were reported onboard
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has made an emergency landing near the city of Varzeqan near the Iranian-Azerbaijani border, the IRNA news agency reported.
According to IRNA, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several more officials were reported onboard. Rescuers reach site of crash.
Top Iranian diplomat confirmed incident with presidential helicopter, rescuers still unable to reach site — IRIB.
Contact established with official onboard Iranian president’s helicopter; there is hope that no one was hurt. Two other helicopters with Iranian top-ranking officials safely reached destination — Tasnim agency.
Iranian president not hurt, is driving to Tabriz — Mehr agency.
Helicopter crash landed due to heavy fog, terrain features make it hard to reach site — interior minister.
Rescue teams and the army are trying to reach the scene but are being hampered by fog and rain in a mountainous area.
The lives of the president and foreign minister are “at risk”, an Iranian official told Reuters news agency.
“We are still hopeful but information coming from the crash site is very concerning,” said the official, speaking anonymously.
The president was said to be travelling with foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan province and other officials.
Interior minister Ahmed Vahidi said Mr Raisi was in a convoy of three aircraft but didn’t explicitly confirm he was on the helicopter involved.
State media initially said the incident happened near Jolfa, about 375 miles (600km) from Tehran, but then put it further east near the village of Uzi.
Mr Raisi had been in Azerbaijan for the inauguration of a dam with the country’s president, Ilham Aliyev.
“The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog,” Mr Vahidi said on state TV.
“Various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter.”
Mr Vahidi added: “The region is a bit [rugged] and it’s difficult to make contact. We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information.”
A rescue helicopter tried to reach the site but couldn’t land due to the fog, emergency services spokesman Babak Yektaparast told IRNA.
The army’s chief of staff ordered all resources to be deployed and Iraq has also offered to help.
Many of Iran’s military aircraft date back to before the 1979 revolution and international sanctions can make it hard to obtain parts.
State media showed images of people praying for the president in the holy city of Mashhad and other locations.
Mr Raisi, 63, a hardliner and former head of the judiciary, is considered the protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
There are suggestions he could one day replace the 85-year-old.
