Helicopter with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi Crashes in Mountainous Area

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country's foreign minister, and other officials reportedly crashed in the mountainous northwest of Iran on Sunday, prompting a massive rescue operation in a fog-covered forest. The public was urged to pray for the safety of those on board. The possible crash occurred as Iran, under Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel last month and has enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.

Raisi was traveling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province when the incident occurred. State TV reported a "hard landing" near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan, around 375 miles northwest of Tehran. Later, state TV placed the location farther east near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory. Traveling with Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, and other officials and bodyguards.

Neither IRNA nor state TV provided any information on Raisi's condition in the hours following the incident. However, hard-liners urged the public to pray for him. State TV later aired images of people praying at Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites, as well as in Qom and other locations across the country. State television's main channel aired the prayers nonstop.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TV that "various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter." The area is known to be mountainous and forested. State TV aired images of SUVs racing through a wooded area and said they were being hampered by poor weather conditions, including heavy rain and wind.

A rescue helicopter attempted to reach the area where authorities believe Raisi's helicopter was but could not land due to heavy mist, according to emergency services spokesman Babak Yektaparast. Long after sunset, Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi acknowledged that "we are experiencing difficult and complicated conditions" in the search.

Khamenei himself also urged the public to pray. "We hope that God the Almighty returns the dear president and his colleagues in full health to the arms of the nation," Khamenei said, drawing an "amen" from his audience.

Raisi had been on the border with Azerbaijan earlier Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River. The visit took place despite chilly relations between the two countries, including over a gun attack on Azerbaijan's Embassy in Tehran in 2023 and Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran's Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region.

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 dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. IRNA published images it described as Raisi taking off in what resembled a Bell 412 helicopter with a blue-and-white paint scheme previously seen in published photographs.

Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine and launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in Gaza Strip. It also continues arming proxy groups in the Middle East like Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, mass protests have raged for years in Iran over issues such as an ailing economy and women's rights. The most recent involved the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a woman detained over allegedly not wearing a hijab to authorities' liking. The security crackdown that followed killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for Amini's death due to "physical violence."