Mysterious crash of chopper carrying Iran’s president: What do we know so far

In a shocking event, a chopper carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, the country's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and other officials crashed in northwest Iran on Sunday (May 19).

It was earlier reported that the helicopter suffered a 'hard landing'. 

Details remained scant in the hours after the incident, and it was unclear if President Raisi and the other officials had survived.

Here's what we know so far:

Who was aboard the helicopter and where were they headed?

The chopper was carrying Iranian President Raisi, the country's Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Raisi was returning from a trip to Iran's border with Azerbaijan earlier Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.

Where did the crash happen?

The helicopter apparently crashed or made an emergency landing in the Dizmar forest between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in Iran's East Azerbaijan province, near its border with Azerbaijan, under circumstances that remain unclear. Initially, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the helicopter “was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog.”

What is the status of search operations?

According to latest reports, Iranian authorities have despatched rescue teams towards the suspected location of the crash after a Turkish drone Akinci identified a heat source in the accident region.

Russian search and rescue planes are also heading to Iran’s northwestern city of Tabriz to help with the search operation.

According to Iranian Red Cresent Society around 70 search teams are present at the site of the helicopter crash.

Earlier, Iranian officials had said that mountainous, forested terrain and heavy fog impeded search-and-rescue operations. Initially 40 search teams were sent to the site of the crash despite “challenging weather conditions.”

How will be Iran impacted if Raisi dies?

Raisi is seen as a protégé to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a potential successor for his position within the country's Shiite theocracy. Under the Iranian constitution, if he died, the country's first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, would become president. Khamenei has publicly assured Iranians that there would be “no disruption to the operations of the country” as a result of the crash.

What has been the international reaction to the incident?

Countries including Russia, Iraq and Qatar have made formal statements of concern about Raisi's fate and offered to assist in the search operations.

Azerbaijani President Aliyev said he was “deeply concerned” to hear of the incident, and affirmed that Azerbaijan was ready to provide any support necessary. Relations between the two countries have been chilly due to Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, Iran's regional arch-enemy.

Saudi Arabia, which is traditionally a rival of Iran although the two countries have recently made a rapprochement, also expressed concern in a statement and said it “stands by Iran in these difficult circumstances.” There was no immediate official reaction from Israel. Last month, following an Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building in Damascus that killed two Iranian generals, Tehran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel. They were mostly shot down and tensions have apparently since subsided.

(With inputs from agencies)