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Iran: the helicopter in which President Raïssi is said to be actively sought by emergency services
Iran: the helicopter in which President Raïssi is said to be actively sought by emergency services
(franceinfo)
On the border of Iran and Azerbaijan, emergency vehicles are on Sunday, May 19, looking for the helicopter believed to be the Iranian President, Ebrahim Raïssi. The plane had to make an emergency landing.
In thick fog, Iranian Red Crescent teams are searching for the helicopter in which Ebrahim Raïssi was. “The area is a bit complicated, and it’s difficult to communicate. We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and be able to give us more information.”, declared Ahmad Vahidi, the Iranian Minister of the Interior. The Iranian president was returning from a visit to the far north of the country, where he met the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Alizev.
According to Iranian media, the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raïssi made an emergency landing near the town of Varzagān. “At the moment, they are not communicating. Either it is chaos, which happens very often within the various services, or it is because they do not want to give information at the moment”comments Fariba Hachtroudi, Franco-Iranian writer and journalist.
Also on board the missing aircraft were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the governor of the province and the main imam of the region. Ebrahim Raïssi succeeded the more moderate President Hassan Rouhani in 2021. Like many Iranian officials, he is on the blacklist of regime dignitaries, sanctioned for human rights violations.
