A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reportedly crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday.
PM Modi On Iran: Expressing his deep concern over the reports regarding Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi‘s helicopter flight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India stands in solidarity with the Iranian people in this hour of distress.
PM Modi posted on X: “Deeply concerned by reports regarding President Raisi’s helicopter flight today. We stand in solidarity with the Iranian people in this hour of distress, and pray for the well-being of the President and his entourage.”
Deeply concerned by reports regarding President Raisi’s helicopter flight today. We stand in solidarity with the Iranian people in this hour of distress, and pray for well being of the President and his entourage.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 19, 2024
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s foreign minister, and other officials reportedly crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray, according to media reports.
“An accident happened to the helicopter carrying the president in East Azerbaijan. Some news reports indicate that the helicopter carrying Ayatollah Raisi, the president, has had an accident in East Azerbaijan,” reported Tasnim News on Telegram.
According to the news agency Reuters, a helicopter in Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s convoy met with an accident.
“One helicopter in a convoy of three in which Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was travelling was involved in an accident,” said Iranian state TV on Sunday without giving any further details about the incident, reports Reuters.
Earlier reports said that a helicopter carrying President Raisi faced a rough landing, Iranian state TV said on Sunday, adding that rescue teams are on their way to the site.
Raisi met with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on the shared border earlier on Sunday, 19 May 2024 to inaugurate the jointly built Qiz Qalasi Dam on the Aras River, reported Reuters.
Meanwhile, Mohsen Mansouri, the Iranian Deputy President for Executive Affairs said, “Two of the passengers of this flight communicated with the rescue forces meaning that the accident was probably of low severity.”
Another promising point is that the location of the accident has been identified by the Information and Communications Technology Ministry in a radius of 2 km, he added.
(With agency inputs)
