Reports from the Islamic republic are indicating that the chances of the leader having survived the crash are increasingly slim, with an official telling Reuters that “expectations are low for President Raisi to be alive after helicopter crash”
iran’s President went missing on Sunday after authorities lost contact with the helicopter carrying the 63-year-old leader and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in the East Azerbaijan province.
Search and rescue teams were dispatched to look for the craft, with state TV reporting early today that a Turkish drone appeared to have detected “the coordinates of the accident.”
“Rescue teams have been dispatched to the site,” reports added. Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province when a “hard landing” happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, state TV put it farther east near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.Traveling with Raisi and Amirabdollahian were the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash,” but others referred to either a “hard landing” or an “incident.”
“The harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have made it difficult for the rescue teams to reach the accident site,” said one broadcaster, even as massive search efforts continued through the night.
Raisi’s convoy had included three helicopters, and the other two had “reached their destination safely”, said the Tasnim news agency
