carrying a helicopter Iranian chairman Ebrahim Raisi It suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state television reported without immediately providing details.
Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident occurred near the city of Jolfa, located on the border with Azerbaijan, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of Iran’s capital, Tehran.
State TV said rescue workers were trying to reach the scene, but were being hampered by bad weather in the area. Heavy rain with some wind was reported.
Raisi was in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. This is the third dam that both countries have built on the Aras River.
Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely predates the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who previously headed the country’s judiciary. He is seen as a disciple of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader if he dies or resigns.
Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic. Raisi is sanctioned by the US over his involvement in the mass executions of thousands of political prisoners at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war in 1988.
Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels and hinders international inspections. Iran has armed Russia Israel has carried out massive drone and missile attacks in its war on Ukraine, as well as in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It has also continued to arm proxy groups in the Middle East, such as Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.