Dozens of Iranians gathered in Vali-e-Asr Square in central Tehran on Sunday to pray for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who have been missing since a helicopter crash several hours earlier in East Azerbaijan province.

"I hope they are well and they will be found," a 29-year-old Iranian woman who gave only her family name, Vakili, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"I am deeply saddened," said another resident. "We hope he [Raisi] and his companions will be found in good health."

The helicopter carrying the Iranian president was initially reported to have made a "hard landing" due to bad weather. Iran's state broadcaster IRNA later reported that "according to unconfirmed reports, the helicopter carrying President Raisi crashed in East Azerbaijan province."

The incident involving the aircraft carrying Ebrahim Raisi occurred near the city of Jolfa, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of the capital, Tehran.

The Iranian military said it had located the "exact location" of the helicopter using a signal from the aircraft and another from the mobile phone of one of the crew members. However, the aircraft has not yet been found.

"The exact location of the helicopter crash has been identified," the commander of the army in East Azerbaijan, General Asghar Abbasqolizadeh, was quoted as saying by IRNA. "Now we are going to the area with all our military might and we hope to bring good news," he added.

The search was initially carried out by 16 rescue teams. However, according to the Iranian emergency services, several dozen teams are now involved, in addition to the armed forces, due to the bad weather. Aerial searches have been hampered by heavy fog, as you can see in the videos below:

Iran Television has stopped all programs to broadcast prayers for Raisi

A corner has been set aside for a live broadcast from the site of the search for the crashed helicopter carrying Iran's president, Reuters writes. Rescuers walk through the mountains on foot in thick fog.… pic.twitter.com/pjdeZM3Kmn

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 19, 2024

Irán. En estas condiciones de visibilidad están buscando los equipos de rescate al helicóptero del presidente iraní tras el accidente que han sufrido.
Llevan más de una hora en esa tarea, y no se conoce el estado de salud de Ebrahim Raisi. pic.twitter.com/jZiuvMGwfw

— Niporwifi © (@niporwifi) May 19, 2024

Raisi had been in Azerbaijan earlier Sunday to inaugurate a dam with his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, the third such dam built by the two countries on the Aras River.

Iran has a diverse range of helicopters in service, but international sanctions have made it difficult to obtain spare parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raisi, 63, is a hardliner who previously headed the country's judiciary and is seen as a protégé and possible successor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Raisi won Iran's 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic.

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