A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed in heavy fog on the way back from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan.
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountainous terrain in heavy fog on the way back from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan.Office of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran via Getty Images
An Iranian government handout of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev inaugurating the Qiz Qalasi Dam on their joint border just hours before the Iranian president’s helicopter crashed.There was immediate speculation from international commentators and online conspiracy theorists that the helicopter incident would be blamed on Israel, further inflaming relations in the Middle East.
Neither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi’s condition in the hours afterwards. Hard-liners urged the public to pray for him. State TV later aired images of the faithful praying at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites, as well as in Qom and other locations across the country.
“The region is a bit and it’s difficult to make contact. We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information.” Raisi had been on the border with Azerbaijan earlier on Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary. He is viewed as a protégé of Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi makes rough landingIran's Interior Minister says rescue teams are on the way to the site of the incident.
Read more »
Iran’s president involved in helicopter ‘hard landing’Rescuers struggle to reach location of incident involving Ebrahim Raisi because of poor weather conditions
Read more »
Biden and Trump agree to two presidential debates in June and SeptemberPresident Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to hold two campaign debates.
Read more »
Coldplay and Sting call for release of Toomaj Salehi, Iranian rapper sentenced to deathLeading cultural figures including Margaret Atwood sign statement in support of rapper who criticised Iranian regime
Read more »
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to eight years in prison and floggingRasoulof is one of Iran’s leading directors and his film The Seed of the Sacred Fig is due to premiere at Cannes film festival
Read more »
‘Nightmares about Rwanda’: Iranian asylum seeker facing deportation from UKEngineer living in Liverpool says he fears being arrested at any moment after receiving deportation notice
Read more »