TEHRAN -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died in a helicopter crash, state-run IRIB TV reported Monday.

Due to the bad weather, the helicopter carrying Raisi and other senior officials was forced into a hard landing in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan on Sunday.

The other members of Raisi's accompanying team, including East Azarbaijan's Governor Malek Rahmati, and the Friday prayers leader Tabriz Mohammad Ali Ale-Hasehem, as well as the flight crew also lost their lives, the report said.

The tragedy occurred while Raisi was on his way from Khoda Afarin County, where he had attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam, to the provincial capital Tabriz for the inauguration of a petrochemical complex.

Media reports said images show the helicopter crashed into a mountain peak. State news agency IRNA said Raisi was flying in a US-made Bell 212 helicopter.

Fog and rain had hampered the search operation before rescuers spotted the helicopter earlier in the day.

Rescuers have spotted the helicopter that was carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials, an official told Iranian state television Monday. Iran state TV says "no sign" of life in president's helicopter.

A hard landing happened to the helicopter carrying Raisi and other senior officials in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan on Sunday.

China is deeply concerned over the "hard landing" of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday, adding that it hopes Raisi and the others aboard are safe and sound.

"We are closely following the situation and will provide all necessary support and assistance for Iran's rescue efforts," the spokesperson said.

The whereabouts of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other senior officials remain unknown as international teams join local rescuers in the search in northwestern Iran.

Fog and rain in the province of East Azarbaijan hampered the search in which Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Russia, the EU, among others, are taking part, from Sunday until early Monday, according to Iran's state-run IRIB TV.

Iran's Vice-President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri, speaking near the possible scene, said the search and rescue work was going on slowly as the area was hard to reach, and bad weather had made the operation more difficult, Xinhua reported, citing local TV reports.

The incident occurred on Sunday in the Varzaqan county, some 670 km away from the capital Teheran.

Millions of Iranians are praying for good news about their president, according to CGTN.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan's Governor Malek Rahmati, and the Friday prayers leader Tabriz Mohammad Ali Ale-Hasehem were also on the helicopter when it suffered from a "hard landing" due to the bad weather, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told IRIB TV.

The Iranian president was returning home from an event jointly held with Azerbaijan authorities on Sunday.

Raisi was traveling in a convoy of three helicopters when the one carrying him lost communication with the other two about 30 minutes after takeoff.

The two other helicopters immediately began a search of the area and continued the search for about 20 minutes, but were later compelled to make an emergency landing due to thick fog and other weather conditions, Mansouri said.

Xinhua contributed to this report.

TEHRAN -- Iran's Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri said on Sunday that contact had been established with one of the passengers and one of the crew members aboard the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

He told the state IRIB TV from an area near the possible scene of the incident, which occurred earlier in the day to the helicopter carrying Raisi and members of his accompanying team in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.

Mansouri said the Iranian president was traveling in a convoy of three helicopters when the one carrying him lost communication with the other two approximately 30 minutes after takeoff.

The helicopters immediately began a search of the area for about 20 minutes, but were compelled to make an emergency landing due to bad weather conditions and thick fog.

Rescuers from the Iranian Red Crescent Society, police, army, and Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, had been sent to the scene, he said. However, due to the unfavorable weather conditions, the rescue operations were going on slowly in the region, which was a hard-to-reach area.

In addition, the low temperature and rainfall were causing further difficulties, Mansouri said.

The helicopter carrying Raisi and his team had an incident and made a "hard landing" in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan on Sunday. The possible site of the incident has been determined to be in Varzaqan County, some 670 km away from the Iranian capital Tehran.

The president's convoy was on its way from Khoda Afarin County, where Raisi had attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev earlier in the day, to the provincial capital Tabriz for the inauguration of a petrochemical complex.

According to the IRIB TV, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan's Governor Malek Rahmati, and the Friday prayers leader Tabriz Mohammad Ali Ale-Hasehem were onboard the president's helicopter.

TEHRAN -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday prayed for the safe return of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after his helicopter made a "rough landing" earlier in the day in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.

Meanwhile, Khamenei told Iranian people not to be worried as there would be no disruption in the country's affairs.

"I pray that the respected president and those accompanying him would return to the arms of the nation," Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with the families of members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

The state-run IRIB TV reported on Sunday that a helicopter carrying Raisi and his team suffered an incident in East Azarbaijan and made a "hard landing."

The possible site of the incident has been determined to be in Varzaqan, some 670 km away from Tehran, and rescue teams have been dispatched to the scene, the report said.

The accident happened as the president's convoy, comprising three helicopters, was on its way from Khoda Afarin County, where Raisi attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev earlier in the day, to the provincial capital Tabriz for the inauguration of a petrochemical complex.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri has ordered the army, the IRGC, and the police to make all-out efforts to search for and rescue the president and his accompanying team, said the Iran Newspaper.

TEHRAN -- A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered an accident and made a hard landing in Iran's northwestern province of East Azarbaijan on Sunday, the state-run IRIB TV reported.

The possible site of the incident has been determined to be in Varzaqan, some 670 km away from the capital Tehran, and rescue teams have been dispatched to the scene, the report said.

The convoy, comprising three helicopters, was on its way from Khoda Afarin County, where Raisi attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev earlier in the day, to the provincial capital Tabriz for the inauguration of a petrochemical complex, according to the report.

Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi attributed the helicopter's rough landing to the unfavorable weather conditions, which he said also impacted search and rescue work.

Contacts had been made with members of the team accompanying the president, but given that the region was "complicated," establishing contacts was difficult, he said.

Head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pirhossein Kolivand told IRIB TV that 40 rapid reaction teams had rushed to the scene and were monitoring the region while noting that there were difficulties in reaching the scene by land or by air due to the mountainous landscape and bad weather conditions.

Kolivand, however, said drones were being used to search the region.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri has ordered the army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the police to make all-out efforts to search for and rescue the president and his accompanying team, said the Iran Newspaper.

Iranian people gathered in holy sites, including the Imam Reza holy shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad, to pray for the health of the president and others onboard.

According to IRIB TV, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Governor of East Azarbaijan Malek Rahmati were among the people on board the helicopter.

Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said medical teams had been stationed in the possible crash site, where he made the remarks.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said in a post on social media platform X that Vice President Mohsen Mansouri and several cabinet members were on their way to Tabriz after a meeting in Tehran.

Following reports of the incident, leaders of neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan and Iraq, have expressed concern over the developments and readiness to assist in search and rescue efforts.