As Iranian authorities intensified their search operation for the crashed helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, the Iran Red Crescent claimed to have dispatched its forces to the place where rescue teams reported the smell of fuel, Iran-based Press TV reported. Moreover, Major General Hossein Salami, the chief commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has also travelled to the area in the northwestern province of East Azerbaijan, where a helicopter carrying the Iranian President was reported to have suffered a 'hard landing'. The chief executive and Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and several others were also on board the chopper when it encountered difficulties and was forced to make a "hard landing" in the province's city of Jolfa on Sunday afternoon.
Nine people were on the helicopter that crashed in northwest Iran on Sunday, including three officials, an imam, and flight and security team members, as reported by Tasnim news. The IRGC-run media outlet, Sepah, reported the nine included: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian; Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati, Tabriz's friday prayer Imam Mohammad Ali Alehashem as well as a pilot, copilot, crew chief, head of security and another bodyguard. After the reported crash of President Raisi's helicopter, several countries have come forward to help in the ongoing search operations.
Meanwhile, Russia has announced that it will send special a.
