The helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi along with other officials crashed in the East Azerbaijan province in the country’s mountainous northwest, Iranian state media reported.
Rescue teams struggled to reach the area where the helicopter was believed to have landed amid poor visibility, state media said.
During a television broadcast, an International Red Cross and Red Crescent official described the active search area, 55 miles north of the provincial capital of Tabriz, as roughly 20 to 30 square miles in mountainous terrain.
Raisi was returning from an appearance with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to inaugurate the joint Qiz Qalasi Dam project when the helicopter went down in the East Azerbaijan province. The dam that Raisi visited before the crash is approximately 30 miles away.