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2024-05-19 22:29:16, Kosova & Bota CNA

Rescue teams are searching for the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, which, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA, suffered a "hard landing" in inclement weather. fog in mountainous terrain, northwest Iran.

The Iranian government said on May 19 that the helicopter carrying the president was just one of three helicopters in a convoy traveling near the border with Azerbaijan.

The other two helicopters have landed safely in the city of Tabriz.

The state television reported having contact with one of the passengers on the helicopter, giving hope for the situation, but without giving more details.

The Iranian Interior Ministry has said that rescue teams are trying to approach the area, but are encountering difficulties due to bad weather.

"We are waiting for other details", said the Minister of the Interior, Ahmad Vahidi.

Janez Lenarcic, European Union Commissioner for Crisis Management, has said that Iran has asked for help, considering the difficult situation.

He said that the EU's Copernicus satellite service has been activated to identify the helicopter more easily.

A few hours after the search began, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for prayers.

"We ask God to return the president and his team to the embrace of the nation. Everyone should pray for them. The people of Iran need not worry. State affairs will not be interrupted", he said.

The US Department of State has told Radio Free Europe that it is "closely monitoring the reports about the possibility of a heavy landing of the helicopter in Iran, in which the Iranian president and foreign minister are".

Even the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has said that all the countries of the European Union are closely observing the developments in Iran.

The Iranian president has been traveling to East Azerbaijan, an Iranian province.

State television said the incident took place near Jholfa, a city on the border with the country of Azerbaijan, about 600 kilometers northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Torrential rains and strong winds have been reported in that area.

Raisi was in Azerbaijan on Sunday to inaugurate a dam, together with the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

This dam is the third that the two countries are building on the Aras River.

"Today, after I greeted the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, we were shocked by the news that a helicopter carrying the high delegation has landed hard on the ground in Iran," said Aliyev.

"We pray to God for President Ebrahim Raisi and the accompanying delegation. As neighbors, friends and fraternal states, the Republic of Azerbaijan is ready to provide the necessary assistance."

Armenia and Iraq have also expressed shock at the news and said they are ready to help.

Iran has several helicopters, but international sanctions make it difficult to replace their parts.

The military fleet has equipment dating back to the period before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Raisi, 63 years old, is a hard-line official who previously led the judicial sector.

He is close to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and some analysts suggest he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or abdication.

Raisi has won the presidential elections of 2021, a process that has been considered with the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic.

Raisi is sanctioned by the United States for his involvement in the mass executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

Under Rais's leadership, Iran now enriches uranium to high levels and evades international inspections.

Iran is arming Russia in its war in Ukraine, and has launched a massive drone and missile strike against Israel this year for its war against Hamas - the Palestinian group designated as a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union - in the Gaza Strip.

Tehran also continues to arm its networks in the Middle East, such as Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah./ REL