A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog on the way back from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan, an Iranian official told Reuters.
\nThe official said the lives of Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were \u201cat risk following the helicopter crash\u201d.
\n\u201cWe are still hopeful but information coming from the crash site is very concerning,\u201d said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
\nThe bad weather was complicating rescue efforts, the state news agency IRNA reported.
\nState TV stopped all its regular programming to show prayers being held for Raisi across the country and, in a corner of the screen, live coverage of rescue teams searching the mountainous area on foot in heavy fog.
\nThe 63-year-old was elected president at the second attempt in 2021, and since taking office has ordered a tightening of morality laws, overseen a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests and pushed hard in nuclear talks with world powers.
\nIn Iran\u2019s dual political system, split between the clerical establishment and the government, it is the supreme leader rather than the president who has the final say on all major policies.
\nBut many see Raisi as a strong contender to succeed his 85-year-old mentor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has strongly endorsed Raisi\u2019s main policies.
\nInterior Minister Ahmed Vahidi told state TV only that one of the helicopters in a group of three had come down hard, and that authorities were awaiting further details.
\nRaisi had been at the Azerbaijani border to inaugurate the Qiz-Qalaisi Dam, a joint project.
\n(Reuters)helicopter crash. helicopter crash, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, rescue efforts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed in heavy fog on the way back from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan. The lives of Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were at risk. Rescue efforts were complicated by bad weather. State TV showed prayers being held for Raisi and live coverage of rescue teams searching the mountainous area. Raisi, who was elected president in 2021, has been involved in tightening morality laws, cracking down on protests, and nuclear talks with world powers. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has endorsed Raisi’s policies and many see him as a strong contender to succeed Khamenei. Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi stated that one of the helicopters in a group of three had crashed, and further details were awaited. Raisi had been at the Azerbaijani border to inaugurate a joint project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[155,8575,6138,10523,7129,8581,5408,6965,5937,1392,415,10522,10540,9769,146,10541,7375,185,3331,4593,4843,4753,577,389,10542,4054,10521,1817,7967,1026,4592,114,9849,4100,339,6305,18],"class_list":["post-12395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-accident","tag-authorities","tag-azerbaijan","tag-bad-weather","tag-border","tag-crash","tag-dam","tag-establishment","tag-fog","tag-foreign-minister","tag-government","tag-helicopter","tag-helicopter-crash","tag-helicopters","tag-iran","tag-iranian-president-ebrahim-raisi","tag-khamenei","tag-main","tag-news","tag-office","tag-president","tag-project","tag-protests","tag-rescue","tag-rescue-efforts","tag-risk","tag-rough-landing","tag-split","tag-state","tag-talks","tag-teams","tag-top-news","tag-tv","tag-visit","tag-weather","tag-who","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n