The incident took place in the northwest of the country, near Jolfa, a town close to the border with Azerbaijan, according to Iranian state television.
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In Iran, a presidential helicopter suffered “a hard landing”Sunday May 19, selon Associated Pressciting Iranian state television. The incident took place in the northwest of the country, near Jolfa, a town near the border with Azerbaijan, again according to the same source.
The official Irna news agency reported that Ebrahim Raïssi, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were among the passengers on the plane, along with the governor of the province and the main imam of the region. For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Ahmed Vahidi, however, did not confirm whether the president was on board the aircraft, which was part of a convoy of three helicopters carrying the presidential delegation.
Research in this mountainous region is made very difficult by the “unfavorable weather conditions”including fog, added Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi. “It may take time to reach the area,” he continued. The Irna agency added that “more than 20 fully equipped rescue teams including drones and rescue dogs”had “were sent there”.
The 63-year-old head of state visited the province of Eastern Azerbaijan on Sunday, where he notably inaugurated a dam in the company of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, on the border between the two countries.