President Raisi’s helicopter crashes in Iran: What we know so farIranian President Ebrahim Raisi has yet to be found, despite conflicting reports that the location where his helicopter went down had been found.
But those reports were quickly dismissed by the Iranian Red Crescent and the world continues watching Iranian emergency crews searching for Raisi in a remote area near Jolfa in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province where his helicopter went down, while the rest of the convoy continued.
Raisi was returning from Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, where he and the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev inaugurated a cooperative dam project, the latest sign of warming relations between the two countries. Twenty rescue teams as well as an unknown number drones have been sent to the area where the helicopter came down.
Information is slowly emerging on this incident, but here is what we know so far.
What happened?Reports of a helicopter in the president’s convoy crashing first circulated on social media and were quickly picked up by local media. An initial report by the state-linked Mehr news website said Raisi had opted to travel to Tabriz by car due to the foggy weather conditions, and that he was safe.
The news was subsequently taken down after state television confirmed that the missing helicopter was carrying Raisi and the other officials. State television said the helicopter suffered a “hard landing”.
Who was in the helicopter?
Travelling with Ebrahim Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province Governor Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to East Azerbaijan, according to state media.
Did all three helicopters disappear?No, two of the three helicopters in the president’s convoy made it back safely to the city of Tabriz.
Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Housing and Transportation Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash were in the helicopters that made it back safely...................
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/19/president-raisis-helicopter-crashed-in-iran-what-we-know-so-far
