BEIRUT –
The plain accident of a helicopter sporting Iran’s president and international minister on Sunday despatched injury waves across the pocket.
Main points remained scant within the hours upcoming the incident, and it was once concealed if Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the alternative officers had survived.
Right here’s what we all know to this point.
Who was once on board the helicopter and the place have been they going?
The helicopter was once sporting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the rustic’s International Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and alternative officers and bodyguards, in step with the state-run IRNA information company. Raisi was once getting back from a commute to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan previous Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, the scoop company stated.
The place and the way did the helicopter move i’m sick?
The helicopter it seems that crashed or made an extremity touchdown within the Dizmar woodland between the towns of Varzaqan and Jolfa in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, close its border with Azerbaijan, below cases that stay concealed. To start with, Internal Minister Ahmad Vahidi stated the helicopter “was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog.”
What’s the situation of the quest operations?
Iranian officers have stated the mountainous, forested park and bulky fog impeded search-and-rescue operations. The president of the Iranian Purple Crescent Crowd, Pir-Hossein Koulivand, stated 40 look out groups have been at the field within the section in spite of “challenging weather conditions.” The hunt is being completed via groups at the field, as “the weather conditions have made it impossible to conduct aerial searches” by means of drones, Koulivand stated, in step with IRNA.
If Raisi died within the accident, how may this have an effect on Iran?
Raisi is unhidden as a protégé to Iran’s excellent chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a possible successor for his place throughout the nation’s Shiite theocracy. Beneath the Iranian charter, if he died, the rustic’s first vp, Mohammad Mokhber, would turn out to be president. Khamenei has publicly confident Iranians that there could be “no disruption to the operations of the country” because of the accident.
What has the global response been?
International locations together with Russia, Iraq and Qatar have made formal statements of outrage about Raisi’s destiny and presented to lend a hand within the look out operations.
Azerbaijani President Aliyev stated he was once “deeply concerned” to listen to of the incident, and affirmed that Azerbaijan was once able to handover any backup important. Family members between the 2 international locations had been cold because of Azerbaijan’s diplomatic members of the family with Israel, Iran’s regional arch-enemy.
Saudi Arabia, which is historically a rival of Iran despite the fact that the 2 international locations have just lately made a rapprochement, additionally expressed worry in a commentary and stated it “stands by Iran in these difficult circumstances.”
There was once deny rapid professional response from Israel. Utmost era, following an Israeli accident on an Iranian consular development in Damascus that killed two Iranian generals, Tehran introduced loads of missiles and drones at Israel. They have been most commonly shot i’m sick and tensions have it seems that since subsided.
