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Helicopter carrying Iran's president suffers a ‘hard landing,’ rescue is under way
The helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi takes off at the Iranian border with Azerbaijan after President Raisi and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev inaugurated dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, Iran, May 19, 2024
[Ali Hamed Haghdoust/IRNA via AP]
A HELICOPTER carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” amid poor weather in rugged territory today, Iranian state media reported.
Mr Raisi was travelling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the provincial governor and other officials.
Mr Raisi had visited the border with Azerbaijan earlier to inaugurate a dam, the third the two nations have built on the Aras river, with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The visit came despite chilly relations between the two nations.
As tensions rise in the Middle East, the role of Iran in the region’s political balance becomes ever more significant. STEVE BISHOP assesses the current situation
