A major search operation is underway after a helicopter carrying Iran’s president and its foreign minister crashed in the northwest of the country in thick fog president Ibrahim RI had been returning from a visit to the border with neighboring Azerbaijan Mass prayers are being said in Iran.
Missing Officials: Helicopter Crash
These are the two men missing after the crash president Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s foreign minister Hussein Amir Abdullah. They’d both been on a day trip today to Iran’s border region with Azerbaijan inaugurating a new dam project right here we’ve got an image of him at the site of the dam and the helicopter he was traveling in now a convoy of three helicopters is believed to have then traveled across Iranian territory two returned back safely but the one carrying the president and foreign minister crashed in mountainous territory in heavy fog in the Jola region On the Border all contact with it was lost.
Search and Rescue Challenges
You can see how bad conditions were in the area as the deliverance operation was afoot. A line of ambulances on buttress. The Army is reported to have ordered all resources needed to be thrown at the search. Members of Iran’s Red Crescent scoured the rugged landscape on foot for any sign of the missing helicopter, but poor visibility made it difficult for the rescue teams to reach the scene of the crash, even to locate it. There are currently three drone teams in the area, but due to the thick fog and low visibility, the drones weren’t suitable to successfully operate. There are also three brigades with deliverance tykes in the area. We’re searching, and we hope we’ll be able to reach positive results very soon.
Helicopter Incident: Presidential Missing
The first indication that something had gone wrong came on state-run television. There are unconfirmed reports of an incident involving the helicopter carrying the president in the Jola region. Initial reports cite a hard landing for the helicopter carrying the president. President RI, seen here earlier with his counterpart from Azerbaijan, is a hardliner, number two to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah, who is the ultimate authority in Iran. Also missing is Iran’s foreign minister, a familiar figure on the international stage. He’d been involved in many negotiations, including the country’s nuclear program.
Prayers for President
Regime supporters came out to pray for the president. These images broadcast on state-run TV, though not everyone in Iran is praying for his survival. The regime is not popular with many Iranians who’d like to see an end to the Islamic Republic. But from its most senior leader, a message of calm, of continuity, hope that God will return the president and fellow Travelers to the people. The Iranian Nation must not be worried and rest assured there will be no disruption to Running of the country. Late at night, there’s still no news of the fate of the president and his foreign minister.
Several Arab countries have offered assistance. Turkey has sent a mountain rescue team and the EU will help with a satellite mapping service at the request of Tehran. The world is watching closely what happens next in Iran. And so Caroline tonight, as we await further news, how significant is all of this internationally? Well, the world is watching closely because Iran is such a pivotal country in the Middle East.
Potential Succession: Iran
At the moment with the war in Gaza and all the spillover of that, so what happens in Iran matters to the world. Now under the Constitution, if the president were not to survive, there is a process. The first vice president would step in, there would be elections within, I think it’s 50 days, maybe a bit longer. Now, he’s a conservative, so you wouldn’t expect any dramatic change of policy, but President REI has been a key and controversial figure in Iran for many decades.
He was tipped to be successor to the supreme leader, who is the ultimate Authority in Iran. That supreme leader is now 85 years old, so it’s a time of great challenge for Iran, both inside the country and abroad. Challenges, for example, the protests that you may over dress codes in Iran. So, it is really an extraordinary moment for the country, and many people in the region will be watching closely to see how things unfold at a time of such great turmoil. Caroline, all right.
