Rescuers have reached the crash site of the helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The agency did not say the condition of those who were on board the helicopter.
At least 73 rescue teams are in the area of the helicopter crash near the village of Tavil in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, according to Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Tasnim reported.
Kolivand said the “the situation is not good,” according to Iranian state news IRNA.
“No survivors” were found at the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, Iranian state news agency IRINN and semi-official news agency Mehr News reported.
Some background: A former hardline judiciary chief, Raisi was Iran’s eighth president. The former prosecutor and judge was elected in 2021 following a historically uncompetitive presidential contest.
He oversaw a period of intensified repression of dissent, according to human rights monitors.
Next in the line of succession would be First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, if approved by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s Supreme Leader serves as the final arbiter of domestic and foreign affairs in the Islamic Republic, dwarfing the powers of the country’s president.
Unlike his predecessor, the moderate former President Hassan Rouhani, Raisi had fostered a close alliance with Khamenei. Many Iranians believed Raisi was being groomed to one day succeed the ailing 85-year-old Khamenei.
CNN’s Tamara Qiblawi contributed reporting to this post.
