BREAKING: Helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi crashes

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a “hard landing” on Sunday, according to Iranian official television, without providing further details.

Raisi was travelling through Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.

According to state television, the event occurred near Jolfa, a city on the Iranian-Azerbaijani border around 600 kilometres (375 miles) northwest of Tehran.

Rescuers were attempting to reach the scene, according to state television, but were delayed by the area’s terrible weather conditions.

Heavy rain was observed, along with some wind. Raisi had visited Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with President Ilham Aliyev.

The dam is the third that the two countries have built on the Aras River.

Iran pilots a variety of helicopters, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain spare parts.

Its military air fleet predates the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raisi, 63, is a hardliner who formerly headed the country’s court.

He is regarded as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and some analysts believe he might succeed the 85-year-old leader upon his death or retirement from the position. Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, which had the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history.

The US has sanctioned Raisi in part because of his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political detainees in 1988, at the close of the horrific Iran-Iraq war.

Iran is currently enriching uranium to virtually weapons-grade levels under Raisi’s leadership, obstructing international inspections.

Iran has armed Russia in its war against Ukraine and launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel as part of its campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

It has also continued to arm proxy groups in the Middle East, including Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

(Abcnews.go)