Iran pres' crashed chopper found, but no sign of life at wreckage

New Delhi: Red Crescent in Iran informed on Monday that the chopper that carried President Ibrahim Raisi and crashed had been found, but the situation is "not good", NDTV reported.-

Iran's state media reported on the day that there was "no sign" of life of the passengers at the wreckage of the chopper which was carrying Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahiatoo. The crash occurred when the president was returning to the Iranian city of Tabriz after a visit to the Azerbaijan border.

"Upon finding the helicopter, there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive as of yet," NDTV quoted Iran's state TV.

On Sunday, the chopper that carried President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials lost contact 30 minutes after take off. Raisi was returning after a meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. Together, they inaugurated the Qiz Qalasi Dam on their shared border.

The loss of contact prompted a massive search and rescue operation, but the same was hampered by severely unsupporting weather. AFP quoted Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand that the helicopter wreckage had been found and was moving towards it. He added that the situation is not good.

Raisi, the 63-year-old elected president at the second attempt in 2023, chose hardline policy in morality laws and initiated a crackdown on anti-government protests. He also pushed for nuclear talks with world powers.

Iran has a dual political system, which includes the clerical establishment and the government. The supreme leader of the clerical hand has more power than the president. However, Raisi is seen as a strong contender for supreme leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.