Iran Press/ Iran news: "Under Putin’s orders, two modern planes and several helicopters carrying 50 mountaineer rescuers will depart to Tabriz [in the northwestern part of Iran] within one hour," TASS cited as Levitin said.
Putin held a meeting, attended by top defense and security officials over the incident, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali told Iranian media.
"At 10 p.m. the President of Russia, Mr. Putin held a meeting with participation of Russia’s top defense and security officials, which I attended as the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Jalali said.
According to the envoy, the meeting was attended by Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Chairman of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov, Presidential Aide Igor Levitin, and Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu.
The helicopter was transporting President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and several other officials when it encountered difficulties and was forced to make a "hard landing." The incident happened in the Dizmar forest, between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa.
President Raeisi was returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
An extensive search and rescue operation is underway to locate the site of the incident. Harsh weather conditions and the region's rugged terrain are hampering the rescue efforts.
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