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Helicopter carrying Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian reportedly crashed in mountainous area amid bad weather
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Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the search for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after a helicopter crash.
The Iranian leader was travelling in a mountainous area of East Azerbaijan province with foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian following a visit to neighbouring Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam when the crash happened.
Iranian state TV reported that the helicopter had been found by search teams. There was no update on the condition of those onboard. However, Iran’s Red Crescent later denied the state TV report. The location of the helicopter is still unknown.
The incident, which involved one helicopter in a convoy of three, was described by Iranian state television as an accident.
An unnamed Iranian official told Reuters that the lives of the president and his foreign minister were “at risk” after a “crash” as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog.
An unnamed Iranian official told state media that contact had been made on several occasions with a passenger and a crew member, but there have been no further updates.
Three rescue workers searching for the crashed helicopter were reported missing by the Red Crescent but were later accounted for. A spokesperson said the search and rescue operation will slow down as the weather is expected to get “severely cold” soon with more rain forecast. Other media reported that the rain was turning to snow.
Raisi was travelling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV described the area of the helicopter incident as being near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan. The president had been in Azerbaijan earlier on Sunday to inaugurate a dam with the country’s president Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations have built on the Aras River.
Iran’s army chief of staff, Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, said all army resources would be used for the search and rescue operations, state TV reported. Bagheri said military personnel along with the Revolutionary Guards and police had deployed teams to the area.
Iraq has instructed its interior ministry, the Red Crescent and other relevant bodies to offer help to neighbouring Iran and assist in the search. Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates also offered support.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power, sought to reassure Iranians, saying there would be no disruption to state affairs.
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