Iranians urged to pray for President Ibrahim Raisi after helicopter incident
Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS
On Sunday morning, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the Araks River border, where he participated in the inauguration of a dam jointly built by the two states. Then the head of the country boarded the Mi-171 presidential helicopter and headed to the city of Tabriz. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was on board with him. The other two helicopters were carrying members of the Iranian government delegation, including some ministers.
A few minutes after takeoff, the helicopter convoy found itself in dense fog in East Azerbaijan province. It is a mountainous forest area with few roads. Suddenly, the president’s helicopter disappeared from radar and other vehicles arrived safely at their destination. The Mi-171 crew did not establish contact.
The Iranian Mehr agency soon reported that the presidential plane made an emergency forced landing near the village of Uzi, but Raisi was not injured and was heading to Tabriz by car. But almost immediately this message was removed from the tape, as it turned out that the helicopter had not yet been found. 20 rescue teams and 8 ambulances came to look for him. Iranian television showed footage of the rescue operation, showing searchers climbing hills in thick fog.
Iranian TV channel presenters ask Muslims to pray for Raisi. The country’s Interior Ministry said “the incident is serious” and “there is a high probability of injuries.” And one of the officials expressed the opinion that “the president’s life is threatened.”
Conspiracy theorists have already put forward several versions of what could have caused the disaster. It is possible that what happened was the work of the Israeli special services and the Americans behind them. Last April, as the countries traded missile attacks, Raisi threatened that if Israel tried to attack Iran again, “there would be almost nothing left” of the Jewish state. And, they say, Tel Aviv decided to eliminate it.
At the moment there is no information on the results of the search operation and the fate of President Ibrahim Raisi.
Who is Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, whose helicopter disappeared: descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and “strong hand”
