The organization described the situation in the accident area as difficult, so, to speed up the night searches, it was decided to increase the number of groups.
Earlier, the Iranian Red Crescent denied the news of the discovery of a helicopter carrying the country’s president, Ibrahim Raisi. Prior to this, there were media reports that rescuers discovered a helicopter carrying the Iranian president and made a forced landing.
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities sent more than 30 climbers to help their Iranian colleagues. This was stated by the National Disaster Management Authority (AFAD).
Iranian state television reported Sunday that the helicopter incident occurred near Julfa, a city bordering Azerbaijan about 600 kilometers northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Joining Raisi on the trip were Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan and other officials.
Raisi has been president of the Islamic Republic since June 2021, succeeding Hassan Rouhani. Born in 1960 in the holy city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, Raisi rose to high office early. At just 20 years old, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the US-backed monarchy, he was appointed attorney general of Karaj, a neighbor of Tehran, notes The Guardian. He served as Tehran’s attorney general from 1989 to 1994, deputy head of the judiciary for ten years starting in 2004, and then the country’s attorney general in 2014.
