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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A chopper carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a "hard landing" connected Sunday, Iranian authorities media reported, without elaborating. Some began urging the nationalist to commune for Raisi and the others connected committee arsenic rescue crews sped done a misty, agrarian wood wherever his chopper was believed to be.
Raisi was traveling successful Iran's East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incidental happened adjacent Jolfa, a metropolis connected the borderline with with the federation of Azerbaijan, immoderate 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, the TV enactment it farther eastbound adjacent the colony of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.
Traveling with Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the politician of Iran's East Azerbaijan state and different officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA quality bureau reported. One section authorities authoritative utilized the connection "crash" to picture the incident, but helium acknowledged to an Iranian paper that helium had yet to scope the tract himself.
Neither IRNA nor authorities TV offered immoderate accusation connected Raisi's condition. However, hard-liners urged the nationalist to commune for him. State TV aboriginal aired images of the faithful praying astatine Imam Reza Shrine successful the metropolis of Mashhad, 1 of Shiite Islam's holiest sites.
"The esteemed president and institution were connected their mode backmost aboard immoderate helicopters and 1 of the helicopters was forced to marque a hard landing owed to the atrocious upwind and fog," Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said successful comments aired connected authorities TV. "Various rescue teams are connected their mode to the portion but due to the fact that of the mediocre upwind and fogginess it mightiness instrumentality clip for them to scope the helicopter."
He added: "The portion is simply a spot (rugged) and it's hard to marque contact. We are waiting for rescue teams to scope the landing tract and springiness america much information."
Rescuers were attempting to scope the site, authorities TV said, but had been hampered by mediocre upwind conditions. There had been dense rainfall and fog reported with immoderate wind. IRNA called the country a "forest" and the portion is known to beryllium mountainous arsenic well. State TV aired images of SUVs racing done a wooded area.
A rescue chopper tried to scope the country wherever authorities judge Raisi's chopper was, but it couldn't onshore owed to the dense mist, exigency services spokesperson Babak Yektaparast told IRNA.
Raisi had been connected the borderline with Azerbaijan aboriginal Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the 3rd 1 that the 2 nations built connected the Aras River. The sojourn came contempt chilly relations betwixt the 2 nations, including implicit a weapon onslaught connected Azerbaijan's Embassy successful Tehran successful 2023, and Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran's Shiite theocracy views arsenic its main force successful the region.
Iran flies a assortment of helicopters successful the country, but planetary sanctions marque it hard to get parts for them. Its subject aerial fleet besides mostly dates backmost to earlier the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Raisi, 63, is simply a hard-liner who formerly led the country's judiciary. He is viewed arsenic a protégé of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and immoderate analysts person suggested helium could regenerate the 85-year-old person aft his decease oregon resignation from the role.
Raisi won Iran's 2021 statesmanlike election, a ballot that saw the lowest turnout successful the Islamic Republic's history. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. successful portion implicit his engagement successful the wide execution of thousands of governmental prisoners successful 1988 astatine the extremity of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.
Under Raisi, Iran present enriches uranium astatine astir weapons-grade levels and hampers planetary inspections. Iran has equipped Russia successful its warfare connected Ukraine, arsenic good arsenic launched a monolithic drone-and-missile onslaught connected Israel amid its warfare against Hamas successful the Gaza Strip. It besides has continued arming proxy groups successful the Mideast, similar Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi successful Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
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