Falcon powers – Iranian media reports stated on Sunday that a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi experienced a “hard landing” in East Azerbaijan Province.
According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, “some reports indicated that the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi was involved in an accident in East Azerbaijan Province.”
The agency mentioned that some of the president’s companions in this helicopter were able to contact the center, and therefore hopes are growing that this incident will end without loss of life.
This convoy consisted of 3 helicopters, and two of them carrying some ministers and officials arrived safely at their destination.
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi confirmed on Sunday that “the bad weather conditions led to a hard landing of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in East Azerbaijan Province.”
Vahidi said in a television interview that “there is difficulty in communicating with the president’s team due to the geographical nature of the place,” noting that “the rescue teams have not yet been able to reach the accident site.”
He added that “the weather conditions are bad and we are waiting for the arrival of the rescue teams in order to obtain accurate information about the accident,” confirming the difficulty of communicating with President Ibrahim Raisi’s team due to the geographical nature of the location.
The information indicates that the Friday prayer leader of Tabriz, Ayatollah Hashemi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Governor of East Azerbaijan, Malik Rahmati, and a number of other officials were on board the helicopter carrying the Iranian President.
Other reports from the Red Crescent and the police stated that search operations for the missing helicopter are underway, and that rescue teams are in the process of reaching the accident site.
The IRNA agency stated that 16 rescue teams were sent to the area, but due to the lack of roads and unfavorable weather conditions, especially the dense fog, the search and rescue operation is expected to take some time.
For its part, the Mehr agency, in a comment on “the rumors circulating on the Internet about the crash of one of the three presidential helicopters,” said that “a few minutes ago, the helicopter carrying the President landed on the ground due to the foggy weather in the northern part of East Azerbaijan, and now the President’s convoy is heading to Tabriz by land.”
According to IRNA, Raisi had arrived in the morning in East Azerbaijan Province to inaugurate the joint Qizqal’eh Dam on the Aras River bordering Azerbaijan.
