Presumed Heat Source Found in Wreckage of Helicopter Carrying Iranian President... Total of 9 Onboard

On the 19th (local time), a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and others crashed, and their survival status has not yet been confirmed. A heat source presumed to be the wreckage of the helicopter was reportedly discovered.

On the 19th (local time), rescue workers dispatched to the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the central Barzgun area of East Azerbaijan Province, Iran, are conducting search operations amid thick fog. On the same day, the Iranian Ministry of Interior announced that the helicopter carrying President Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian crashed in a mountainous area. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 20th, Turkey's Anadolu Agency reported that a Turkish Akıncı unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) searching northwest Iran identified a heat source presumed to be the wreckage of the helicopter carrying President Raisi and shared the coordinates with Iranian authorities. The area where the heat source was detected is near the village of Tavil in Iran, about 30 km from the Azerbaijan border.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran also confirmed that the heat source found by the Turkish drone could be the wreckage of the helicopter carrying President Ebrahim. According to Press TV, Iranian authorities dispatched a rescue team equipped with special tracking devices to the site to locate the exact crash point. Iranian authorities continue to search for the crashed helicopter but are reportedly facing difficulties due to bad weather conditions such as rain, snow, and fog.

US CNN reported that the helicopter was carrying a total of nine people, including President Raisi, three officials, and crew members. The helicopter included President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Malek Ramati, governor of East Azerbaijan Province, Imam Ali Alehashem of Tabriz city, as well as pilots, bodyguards, and security officials, totaling nine people. Their survival status has not yet been confirmed.