“An accident occurred with the helicopter transporting the president” Ebrahim Raïssi in the Jofa region, in the western province of East Azerbaijan, Iranian state television reported this Sunday, May 19. The search was made very difficult by “unfavorable weather conditions,” said Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi. “It may take time to reach the area,” he added, although the location is believed to be located in the Dizmar Forest, near the town of Varzaghan.
State television broadcast images of several members of the Iranian Red Crescent walking in thick fog. It also showed images of faithful praying for the health of the president in several mosques, including that of the holy city of Mashhad (north-east). The Interior Minister did not confirm whether President Raïssi, aged 63, was on board the plane, which was part of a convoy of three helicopters carrying the presidential delegation.
“More than 20 rescue teams”
Two of them landed safely in Tabriz, the large city in the northwest, but not the one in which Ebrahim Raïssi was. The official Irna news agency said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was also among the plane’s passengers, along with the provincial governor and the region’s main imam.
The Irna agency added that “more than 20 rescue teams equipped with full equipment, including drones and rescue dogs”, had “been sent to the site”. The vice-president, Mohammad Mokhber, left Tehran late in the afternoon to reach Tabriz in the company of several ministers, according to the government spokesperson.