Iranian President’s Helicopter Crashes, Rescuers Find Crash Site

May 19, 2024 TruthUSA

On Monday, rescuers located the helicopter, as reported by an official to Iranian state television.

Yesterday, a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister, and other officials crashed in a mountainous area in northwest Iran, triggering a large-scale rescue operation shrouded in fog, according to state media.

The helicopter was found by rescuers on Monday, as mentioned by an official speaking to Iranian state television.

Upon sunrise on Monday, rescuers spotted the helicopter from a distance of about 2 kilometers (1.25 miles), revealed Pir Hossein Kolivand, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, in comments to state media. He provided no further details, as the officials had been missing for over 12 hours at that point.

Mr. Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province when the helicopter experienced a “hard landing” near Jolfa, a city located on the border with Azerbaijan, approximately 375 miles northwest of Tehran, the Iranian capital, according to state TV. Later reports contradicted this initial information, suggesting the crash occurred closer to the village of Uzi.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi places his hands on his heart as a gesture of respect to the crowd during the funeral ceremony for the victims of a bomb explosion in the city of Kerman, Iran, on Jan. 5, 2024. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

Among those aboard with Mr. Raisi were Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, and other officials and bodyguards, as reported by the state-run IRNA news agency. While some described it as a “crash,” others referred to it as a “hard landing” or an “incident.”

There was no information provided by IRNA or state media regarding Mr. Raisi’s condition following the incident. Nevertheless, some officials called for prayers for his well-being.