Dubai: A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his overseas minister crashed on Sunday because it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog, an Iranian official advised Reuters, and rescuers have been struggling to achieve the positioning of the incident.
The official mentioned the lives of Raisi and International Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian have been “in danger following the helicopter crash”, which occurred on the best way again from a go to to the border with Azerbaijan in Iran’s northwest.
“We’re nonetheless hopeful however info coming from the crash website may be very regarding,” mentioned the official, talking on situation of anonymity.
Iranian state media mentioned unhealthy climate was the reason for the crash and was complicating rescue efforts. The chief of employees of Iran’s military ordered all of the sources of the military and the elite Revolutionary Guard to be put to make use of in search and rescue operations.
“It’s darkish and it has began raining, however the search continues. Rescue groups have reached the realm … nevertheless, the rain has created mud, making the search tough,” an area reporter advised state TV.
State TV had earlier stopped all its common programming to point out prayers being held for Raisi throughout the nation and, in a nook of the display, stay protection of rescue groups deployed on foot within the mountainous space in heavy fog.
The rescue groups have been anticipated to achieve the possible website of the crash in a while Sunday night.
PROTEST CRACKDOWN
The crash comes at a time of rising dissent inside Iran over an array of political, social and financial crises. Iran’s clerical rulers face worldwide strain over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme and its deepening army ties with Russia in the course of the battle in Ukraine.
Raisi, 63, was elected president in 2021, and since taking workplace has ordered a tightening of morality legal guidelines, overseen a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests and pushed exhausting in nuclear talks with world powers.
In Iran’s twin political system, break up between the clerical institution and the federal government, it’s Raisi’s 85-year-old mentor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme chief since 1989, who has the ultimate say on all main insurance policies.
For years many have seen Raisi as a robust contender to succeed Khamenei, who has endorsed Raisi’s major insurance policies.
Raisi’s victory in a intently managed election in 2021 introduced all branches of energy below the management of hardliners, after eight years when the presidency had been held by pragmatist Hassan Rouhani and a nuclear deal negotiated with Washington.
Nevertheless, Raisi’s standing could have been dented by widespread protests towards clerical rule and a failure to show round Iran’s financial system, hamstrung by Western sanctions.
Raisi had been on the Azerbaijani border on Sunday to inaugurate the Qiz-Qalasi Dam, a joint venture. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, who had met with Raisi on the occasion, supplied help within the rescue.
