Intense search for Iran’s President Raisi after helicopter accident

TEHRAN - Iran was thrown into uncertainty on May 19 as search and rescue teams scoured a fog-shrouded mountain area after President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter went missing in what state media described as an “accident”.

Expressions of concern and offers to help came from abroad, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey, as well as from the European Union which activated its rapid response mapping service to aid in the search effort. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani expressed gratitude for “governments and international organisations for their sympathy and offer of help in the search and rescue operations”.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the helicopter had “made a hard landing” in bad weather and that it was “difficult to establish communication” with the aircraft. More than 60 rescue teams using search dogs and drones were sent to the mountainous protected forest area of Dizmar near the town of Varzaghan, the IRNA news agency reported.

“Our prayers to Allah Almighty are with President Ebrahim Raisi and the accompanying delegation,” he said, also offering “any assistance needed”. Mr Raisi has been president since 2021, when he succeeded the moderate Hassan Rouhani, at a time when the economy was battered by US sanctions over Iran’s contested nuclear programme.

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