Iran’s Red Crescent chief announced today that President Ibrahim Raisi’s helicopter has been located, but the situation is described as “not good” by a rescue official. The helicopter, carrying President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials, lost contact approximately 30 minutes after taking off for the Iranian city Tabriz following the inauguration of the Qiz Qalasi Dam on the shared border with Azerbaijan.
The news sparked immediate concerns and triggered a massive search and rescue operation. Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand stated, “The helicopter has been found. Now, we are moving toward the helicopter,” adding that “the situation is not good.”
Footage shared by the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu showed a drone identifying a heat source believed to be the helicopter’s wreckage and sharing its coordinates with Iranian authorities. Iranian media, including the Fars news agency, released drone images showing the helicopter wreckage.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi mentioned that the helicopter had made a hard landing due to poor weather conditions. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reassured the nation that there would be no disruption in the country’s work.
International expressions of concern and offers of assistance poured in from countries like Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Russia, Turkey, and the European Union. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani expressed gratitude for the support in the search and rescue operations.
Vice President Mohammad Mokhber led an emergency cabinet meeting following the incident, with rescue teams dispatched to the mountainous Dizmar protected forest area near Varzaghan. The Army, Revolutionary Guard, and police joined the search efforts, with TV stations broadcasting images of the rescue teams in action. Raisi had been visiting the northwestern province to inaugurate a dam project alongside Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.