Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi looks on during the closing press conference of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the United States, September 20, 2023.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
a helicopter with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi The ship made an “emergency landing” on Sunday, state media reported, with weather conditions complicating rescue efforts.
Lacey’s condition is unknown and prayers are being prayed for for his safety, according to national news reports.
At least 20 rescue teams, including drones and search and rescue dogs, Official media added that personnel had been deployed, but bad weather and fog in the area made it difficult for them to reach the scene.
According to reports, Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdullahian, East Azerbaijan Governor Malik Rahmati and Raisi’s security personnel were also on board the helicopter. Iranian state television IRIB said the helicopter belonged to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, and Iranian Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi said the helicopter was part of a larger convoy. Their conditions are also unknown.
“Various rescue teams are heading to the scene, but it may take some time to reach the area due to heavy fog and bad weather,” Vahidi said in comments on state media.
The officials were returning from the Azerbaijani border – in the country’s northwest, about 375 miles from the capital Tehran – where Lacey was inaugurating a dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Initially, the incident was reported near the city of Jolfa, but was later said to have occurred further east, near the village of Uzi. Details remain conflicting.
State media showed Red Crescent rescue workers moving through thick fog with visibility only a few meters, and said the helicopter was believed to have crashed in a rural forest.
The Kizkarasi Dam is the third dam built jointly by Iran and neighboring Azerbaijan and took nearly two decades to complete, according to state media.
While Iran has a fleet of helicopters, international sanctions make it difficult for Tehran to obtain the parts it needs for these helicopters. Most helicopters operated by the military date back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Lacey, 63, himself is under U.S. sanctions for his role in the mass executions of thousands of political prisoners at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war in 1988.
He was re-elected in 2021 in an election with the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi is a hardliner who once led the country’s judiciary and is considered a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Although Raisi is the democratically elected president and leads the government, he still takes orders from Khamenei, who serves as head of state.
The death of Mahsa Amini in police custody two years ago sparked a wave of protests across the country that quickly grew into the biggest challenge the theocratic regime has faced since its founding in 1979. protestors, killing hundreds of people.
in a Interviewed by NBC News Last year, Lacey defended the government’s response, warning those seeking to sow instability in the Islamic republic would pay a “huge price.”
Under Lacey, Iran is now enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels and impeding international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war in Ukraine and launched massive drone and missile attacks against Israel in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also continues to arm proxy groups in the Middle East, including Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
This is a development story. Please check back for updates.
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