Helicopter carrying Iran’s president suffers a ‘hard landing,’ state TV says without further details

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has suffered a “hard landing.” That’s according to an Iranian state television report Sunday, which did not immediately elaborate. Raisi was traveling Sunday in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happening near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan, some 375 miles northwest of Tehran. Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. Traveling with Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.