A helicopter carrying President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi has crashed in Iran on May 19, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the state media of Iran.

According to IRNA, Raisi was accompanied by Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian at the time, along with the governor of East Azerbaijan and several other officials.

Hard landing

Raisi was returning from a dam opening ceremony on the Iranian-Azerbaijani border when the helicopter that was carrying him "experienced a hard landing".

Incident Reported for Helicopter Carrying Iranian President

Reports indicate that the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic of #Iran, has experienced an incident in East Azerbaijan.

However, some of the president's companions on this helicopter… pic.twitter.com/pwr0R3Qtze

— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) May 19, 2024

It further reports that rescue and relief teams have been dispatched to the crash area, but the search operations are hampered by foggy weather and difficult terrain.

NEWS

Islamic Republic state media says that search and rescue operations via helicopter have been suspended due to bad weather.

State media also says that a convoy of eight ambulances is en route to the reported crash/landing site of the President’s helicopter.

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 19, 2024

Iran's interior minister Ahamad Vahidi said that it might take some time for the teams to reach the site and report back.

Al Jazeera, quoting the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, reported that people who had been with the president had been able to make an emergency call, increasing hopes that some or all of the passengers had survived.

Aircraft in Iran is generally outdated, with economic sanctions making it difficult to obtain new aircraft or maintain the existing fleet.

Top image via @Tasnimnews_EN/X & @TheTreeni/X