Wild speculations after chopper carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashes
Wild speculations about the whereabouts of Ebrahim Raisi are on after one of the helicopters in the convoy of the Iranian President crashed in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province near Jolfa, around 375 miles northwest of Tehran Sunday.
[Ebrahim Raisi with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev hours before the chopper crash]
Wild speculations about the whereabouts of Ebrahim Raisi are on after one of the helicopters in the convoy of the Iranian President crashed in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province near Jolfa, around 375 miles northwest of Tehran Sunday.
The state owned media confirmed the incident reporting that the Iranian President’s chopper suffered “hard landing”.
A section of the Western media is calling the incident “chopper crash” and claimed that Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian Foreign Minister and other high ranking officials who were aboard the chopper are “missing” after the incident.
Some citing US officials claimed they believed Iranian President "Ebrahim Raisi has been assassinated".
Iranian President’s convoy
One of the three helicopters in the Iranian President’s convoy crashed hours after Raisi met with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, according to the media reports.
The aircraft was traveling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province near Jolfa, around 375 miles northwest of Tehran, when it suffered a 'hard landing', Iranian state television reported.
"Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has confirmed that a helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raeisi makes a hard landing in the city of Jolfa in the northwestern Iranian province of East Azarbaijan", Press TV said.
Iran FM, High Ranking officials with Raisi
According to the local media reports, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Friday Prayer Imam Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Al-Hashem and other high-ranking officials were also reportedly on the helicopter with the President when it crashed.
The incident happened at Dizmar forest, between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa.
The rescue teams reached the crash site one hour after the incident and started search operations.
There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind.
"Due to the adverse weather conditions and severe fog in the area, the Red Crescent's rescue helicopters are currently unable to fly, and the teams are conducting a ground search of the area", President of the Red Crescent Society Pir Hossein Kolivand said.
Search, rescue operation on
Pir Hossein Kolivand further said that as many as 15 Red Crescent K-9 teams (sniffer dogs) along with two Red Crescent drones are also searching the area for any trace of the helicopter carrying the Iranian President.
Search and rescue teams are yet trying to locate the helicopter carrying Iranians president,#Iran pic.twitter.com/SEAaW7jXve
— Ahmad Hassan Bobak (@ahmad__bobak) May 19, 2024
Ebrahim Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s 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 Azerbaijan's Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran's Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region.
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