Helicopter carrying Iran’s president ‘crashes’

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday afternoon crash-landed in northwestern Iran, Iranian state media reports.

It is unclear if Raisi and others on board with him survived the crash.

IRNA, the state media, reported that Hossein Amirabdollahian, foreign minister; Malek Rahmati, governor of East Azarbaijan province; and Hojjatoleslam Al Hashem, Tabriz Friday prayer leader, were also on board the helicopter.

Raisi was reported to be returning from a ceremony to open a dam on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan when the helicopter crash landed in the Varzaqan region.

The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River, and it comes amid chilly relations between the two countries.

IRNA added that rescue and relief teams have been dispatched to the area, and search operations continue.

The media outfit said the foggy weather and the impassability of the area have frustrated efforts.

There had been heavy rain and fog, along with some wind. IRNA called the area a “forest.”.