Helicopter carrying Iran’s president suffers ‘hard landing’: State TV

Iranian state media say search operations are under way after incident near Jolfa in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has suffered a “hard landing”, state television reported, saying more details will follow soon as search operations are under way for the helicopter.

Iranian state media said the incident occurred on Sunday near Jolfa in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.

A day earlier, Raisi was in neighbouring Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam alongside President Ilham Aliyev.

State-linked media said three helicopters were in the convoy, and the two others made it back safely.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of the Iranian supreme leader to the province, are believed to have been in the same helicopter as Raisi.

Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Housing and Transportation Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash were in the other helicopters that made it back safely.

People who were with the president inside the helicopter managed to make an emergency call, according to the semi-official Tasnim news website.

Tasnim reported that the increased hopes that the incident can be concluded “without fatalities”.