Rescue groups are attempting to find Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after his helicopter was compelled into an emergency touchdown on his approach again from a go to to the nation’s northwest.
There was dense fog within the area which was making situations troublesome for search groups, state media stated, with out giving a direct trigger for the incident on Sunday.
Discovering the president’s helicopter “might take time” resulting from troublesome climate situations, Inside Minister Ahmad Vahidi stated on TV. An aerial search was “not possible” Iranian TV stated.
Raisi, an ultraconservative cleric in his 60s who gained Iran’s presidential election in 2021, has been seen as a favourite to ultimately succeed Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who’s the Islamic Republic’s high authority.
The incident comes at a time of nice turmoil within the Center East over the struggle in Gaza between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas. It has edged Iran and Israel near all-out battle and led to different Tehran-supported teams, together with the Houthis in Yemen and Shiite militias in Iraq, to assault US bases and business ships within the Purple Sea.
Raisi’s air fleet consisted of three helicopters with high-ranking officers together with International Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the semi-official Tasnim information company reported. Amirabdollahian was believed to be on board Raisi’s plane on the time.
State tv broadcast dwell footage from the nation’s holy shrine within the northeastern metropolis of Mashhad, Raisi’s birthplace, exhibiting pilgrims praying for Raisi. Others believed to be on board Raisi’s helicopter included the governor of East Azerbaijan province and the supreme chief’s consultant within the metropolis of Tabriz, Iranian media stated.
Each Raisi and Amirabdollahian oversaw the restoration of Iran’s diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia by a Chinese language-brokered deal introduced in March 2023. Nevertheless it was a time when there was additionally noticed a stalemate in negotiations to revive Iran’s nuclear take care of world energy and carry financial sanctions.
Earlier Sunday, Raisi met his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev to inaugurate a collectively developed dam on the border between the 2 nations. The incident occurred whereas Raisi was coming back from Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
Raisi’s ascension to the presidency got here after eight years underneath the relative average Hassan Rouhani, who was central to the nuclear accord that former President Donald Trump withdrew the US from in 2018.
The US exit from the deal empowered Iran’s hardliners, who have been at all times essential of the settlement. Raisi was sanctioned in 2019 by the Trump administration, which cited his position in a lethal crackdown a decade earlier on protesters alleging vote fraud.
Throughout his presidential election marketing campaign he acquired help from the very best ranges of Iran’s spiritual and army institution, and put all of Iran’s state establishments and levers of energy within the arms of hardliners.
Raisi’s First Vice President is Mohammad Mokhber, who has represented Iran on latest abroad journeys and who like many senior Iranian officers is topic to US sanctions.
