Helicopter carrying Iran's president suffers a 'hard landing,' says state TV

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a hard landing on Sunday Iranian state media reported without elaboratingSome began urging the public to pray for Raisi and the others on board as rescue crews sped through a misty rural forest where his helicopter was believed to beRaisi was travelling in Irans East Azerbaijan province State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan some 600 kilometres 375 miles northwest of the Iranian capital Tehran Later the TV put it farther east near the village of Uzi but details remained contradictoryTravelling with Raisi were Irans Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian the governor of Irans East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards the staterun 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 himselfNeither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisis condition However hardliners urged the public to pray for him State TV later aired images of the faithful praying at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad one of Shiite Islams holiest sites as well as in Qom and other locations across the countryThe 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 Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TVVarious 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 he addedThe region is a bit rugged and its difficult to make contact We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information he saidRescuers 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 and the region is known to be mountainous as well State TV aired images of SUVs racing through a wooded areaA rescue helicopter tried to reach the area where authorities believe Raisis helicopter was but it couldnt land due to the heavy mist emergency services spokesman Babak Yektaparast told IRNARaisi had been on the border with Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijans 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 Azerbaijans Embassy in Tehran in 2023 and Azerbaijans diplomatic relations with Israel which Irans Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the regionIran 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 RevolutionRaisi 63 is a hardliner who formerly led the countrys judiciary He is viewed as a proteacutegeacute of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85yearold leader after his death or resignation from the roleRaisi won Irans 2021 presidential election a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republics history Raisi is sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody IranIraq warUnder Raisi Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weaponsgrade levels and hampers international inspections Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine as well as launched a massive droneandmissile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast like Yemens Houthi rebels and Lebanons HezbollahThe US State Department said it was closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign ministerIt added We have no further comment at this timeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever