No signs of life have been found in the wreckage of a helicopter that crashed while carrying Iran's president

• A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi "crashed upon landing," state media reported.

• An Iranian official said Raisi's life was "at risk."

• Harsh weather conditions and heavy fog are complicating rescue missions.

No signs of life have been detected at the site where a helicopter carrying Iran's president crashed, CNN reported, citing Iranian state news agency IRINN.

Rescuers spotted part of the wreckage on a hillside in Iran's East Azerbaijan province early on Monday but found no survivors, CNN reported, citing the Iranian state media FARS News Agency.

Turkey and Russia were assisting in the search for President Ebrahim Raisi and eight other people who crashed in the president's helicopter on Sunday.

Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority posted on X on Sunday that Iran requested a night vision search and rescue helicopter. The emergency management authority also said it would provide 32 mountaineer search and rescue personnel and 6 vehicles.

CNN reported, citing the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), that Russia also assisted in search and rescue efforts by sending aircraft and 50 professional mountain rescuers.

The European Union and Saudi Arabia also offered to assist in rescuing the Iranian leader.

An Iranian official told state-run media that the lives of Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian are "at risk" following the crash.

"We are still hopeful, but information coming from the crash site is very concerning," the official said.

Iranian state media reported that the helicopter had "crashed upon landing," without providing further details.

Other officials on board

IRNA said Raisi was returning from a ceremony to open a dam on Iran's border with Azerbaijan when his helicopter was forced to make a "hard landing."

The incident is believed to have occurred near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan, some 375 miles northwest of Tehran, Iran's capital.

Officials told IRNA that the helicopter's exact location had been pinpointed by one signal sent by the aircraft and another sent by a crew member's mobile phone, CNN reported, citing IRNA.

In addition to the president and the foreign minister, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, Malik Rahmati, and other officials were also on board the helicopter, IRNA reported.

If Raisi is not found alive, Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will take his place, and new elections will be held within the next 50 days, according to state media reports.

State TV abandoned its regular programming to show prayers being held for Raisi across Iran, Reuters reported.

One local government official used the word "crash" to describe the incident, but he told an Iranian newspaper that he had yet visited the site himself, the Associated Press reported.

State media did not provide any information on Raisi's condition or the other officials on board the helicopter.

The harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have complicated the efforts of rescue teams, who arrived at the crash site an hour after the incident occurred, IRNA reports.

Video footage from the crash site reveals the state of the weather conditions.

Raisi, 63, had been traveling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province for the inauguration of the Qizqalaasi dam on the Aras river, which runs along Iran's border with Azerbaijan.

The hardline president was seen as a favorite of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He was sanctioned by the US, in part because of his role in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

Last month, Iran launched more than 300 drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles at Israel. Tehran's historic attack against Israel came in retaliation to an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria at the start of April.

This is a breaking news story.

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