Iranian president's life may be in danger after helicopter crash - Reuters
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (photo: Getty Images)
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian crashes in the mountains due to bad weather, Reuters reports.
An anonymous Iranian official told the newspaper that a helicopter carrying the Iranian president and his foreign minister crashed while crossing mountainous terrain in heavy fog while returning from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan.
The official said that the lives of Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian are now “under threat after the helicopter crash.”
“We are still hopeful, but the information coming out of the crash site is worrying,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
State television suspended all of its regular programs to show prayers for Raisi across the country, with live feeds of rescue teams on foot searching the mountainous terrain in thick fog in the corner of the screen. Rescue efforts are hampered by heavy fog.
Earlier today, a helicopter carrying the Iranian president made a hard landing.
Initially, Iranian media reported that one of the people on board got in touch and said that the president was fine and continued to travel by bus as part of a motorcade. However, after some time, this message was removed from the media.
