Helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi crashes, prompting massive search operation, local media reports
CNN
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was involved in an incident while visiting a northern region and his condition is currently unknown, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on X on Sunday.
Rescuers are searching for a helicopter that crashed while carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA. Raisi’s condition and that of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who was also on board, remain unknown. The aircraft came down in Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province, sparking a massive search effort. Emergency crews have so far has been unable to reach the crash site amid fog and extreme cold, IRNA said. Iranian armed forces have been in the area since the early hours of Sunday, Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri said, deploying drones and dozens of rescue teams. Officials say they have been able to make contact with some of the passengers aboard the helicopter, raising hopes for the search-and-rescue mission’s success. Raisi’s official Instagram account and state television have urged Iranians to pray for the president and his entourage.
An Israeli airstrike on a multi-story building in northern Gaza killed at least 27 people, relief officials said, as the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders in the area – where it is mounting a major offensive.
If his first term in the White House is any indication, President-elect Donald Trump is likely to keep the Middle East high on his agenda.
Rights groups say journalist Reza Valizadeh has been detained, amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.
A female student stripped to her underwear outside her university in Iran in what some student and rights groups say was a protest against the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
Israel is at a “high level of readiness” for a response from Iran, an Israeli military source told CNN, as US officials visited the Middle East for a renewed push to resolve the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. Follow live updates.