Iran's military has been able to find out exactly where the helicopter with President Ebrahim Raisi on board crashed, the local commander of the Revolutionary Guards told state Irna according to CNN.
A signal from the helicopter and one of the crew members' cell phones have been received, according to the commander.
- The military is on its way to the scene now and hopes to bring good news, he says.
Earlier in the evening, Iranian television reported that the helicopter had been found, but this was quickly denied by the Red Crescent, which is participating in the search operation.
It was this afternoon that the helicopter, where the foreign minister was also on board, crashed in a mountainous and difficult to access area in the province of East Azerbaijan after the president inaugurated a dam on the border with Azerbaijan.
The cause of the accident was very bad weather with dense fog and heavy rain, which also made the rescue operation more difficult.
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Minister: Signs that the accident was not serious
Iranian authorities have been in contact several times with a passenger and a crew member aboard the president's helicopter since the accident. This is stated by the Iranian minister Mohsen Mansouri for state Fars according to CNN.
- It seems that the accident was not serious, says Mansouri.
The authorities have been able to call in the scene of the accident within a radius of two kilometers, but the terrain and the weather make the search difficult, he adds.
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Iranians pray for Raisi - Turkey sends help
Following calls in Iranian state media, Iranians have gathered to pray for President Ebrahim Raisi, who is missing after a helicopter crash near the border with Azerbaijan. Among other things, people have gathered at a shrine in the second largest city of Mashhad, writes AFP.
In a televised address, the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khameini, urges the population to "not worry", and says that "there will be no interruptions in the country's work".
- We hope that Almighty God will bring our president and his comrades back into the arms of the nation in good health.
Several countries have offered help in the rescue effort, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Qatar. Turkey has announced that it is sending a team of 32 mountain rescue specialists.
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