Live updates: Iran President Ebrahim Raisi in helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan Province; Hamas voices concern (2024)

A Turkish drone helping to search for the location where a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed has identified a heat source in the mountains of the country's East Azerbaijan province, according to Iranian state media and Turkish news agency Anadolu.

The condition of those on board the helicopter is still unknown.

A burning spot has been detected and rescue forces are being sent to that area known as Tavil, the country's semi-official FARS news agency reported.

The Turkish drone identified the heat source and shares its coordinates with Iranian authorities, Anadolu reported.

Nine people were on the helicopter that crashed in northwest Iran on Sunday, including three officials, an imam and flight and security team members, Iran's Tasnim news reported.

The IRGC-run media outlet, Sepah, reported the nine included: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian; Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati, Tabriz’s Friday prayer Imam Mohammad Ali Alehashem as well as a pilot, copilot, crew chief, head of security and another bodyguard.

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressedappreciation to numerous nations and international organizations for their support during the search and rescue operation after the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and other officials crashed Sunday.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran sincerely thanks the numerous governments, nations, and international organizations for their expressions of human emotion and solidarity with the government and people of Iran, as well as their offers of help and assistance for the search and rescue operation," the statement said.

Among the leaders expressing support were those from Iraq, Pakistan and India. Armenia, Saudi Arabia, Turkeyand the European Union also offered to provide support to the rescue operations in posts on X.

Turkey and Russia have said they are sending aircraft to help in search operations.

Russia plans to send special aircraft and 50 professional mountain rescuers to the site in northern Iranwhere a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed Sunday, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Two special Russian helicopters will be sent to the crash site from Armenia, according to IRNA, which reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the move.

The helicopter carrying Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and a number of other officials crashedin a northern region of the country Sunday, IRNA reported. Iranian officials said dense fog made the search difficultin the remote, mountainous East Azerbaijan Province, while extreme coldis further complicating rescue efforts.

Rescue crews haven't yet located the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, Pir-Hossein Koulivand, told Iranian state TV IRINN.

Earlier, a military commandersaid the aircraft's exact location had been detected through a signal from the helicopter and a mobile phone of a crew member, according to state news agency IRNA.

The crews are still searching around where the signals were detected, Koulivand said.

Harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have made the search for the crash site very difficult.It is now just after 1 a.m. local time in the remote, mountainous province.

It's now past 11:30 p.m. local time in the remote, mountainous region where the Iranian president's helicopter crashed this afternoon.

It has been approximately 10 hours since authorities lost contact with President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter in the country's East Azerbaijan Province, where dense fog hindered search efforts during the day. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency warned that extreme cold would only hinder the search further as night fell.

The overnight low temperature in the nearest city of Tabriz will be in the low 50s on Sunday. It's difficult to obtain precise weather data from the remote mountains where the crash took place, but temperatures there will dip closer to freezing, according to CNN meteorologists.

Iranian officials say they have located the exact crash siteand are sending teams there. Earlier, authorities managed to make contact with two people who had been aboard the aircraft, according to a government spokesperson.

Military crews are heading to the exact location of the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a military commander in the region said, according to state news agency IRNA.

A signal was received from the helicopter and the mobile phone of one of the crew members at the crash site, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander for East Azerbaijan province, where the crash occurred.

Iran has requested assistance from Turkey in the search for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's crashed helicopter, the Turkish disaster and emergency management ministry said Sunday.

Iran requested a night vision search and rescue helicopter, the ministry said.

Turkey is also sending six vehicles and 32 mountaineer search and rescue personnel to Iran, according to the ministry.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on X that his government is "following the incident closely, in full contact and coordination with the Iranian authorities."

"On behalf of my nation, I convey my get well wishes to our neighbor, friend and brother Iranian people and government, and I hope to receive good news from Mr. President and his delegation as soon as possible," Erdoğan added.

Remember: It's about 11 p.m. local time in the remote, mountainous East Azerbaijan Province where the president's helicopter went down. Even in daylight, dense fog in the area had hindered the search effort.

CNN's Nechirvan Mando and Gul Tuysuz contributed to this post.

Hamas issued a statement expressing "great concern" after a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other Iranian officials crashed on Sunday.

Details about the crash are still murky, and Hamas expressed "solidarity" toward the president and the "brotherly Iranian people."

Some context: Tensions remain acute across the Middle East as Israel wages war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is an Iranian ally.

Meanwhile, a decades-longshadow conflict between Israel and Iran erupted into the open in April, when Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel. Tehran said the assault was retaliation for adeadly suspected Israeli airstrikeon Iran’s consulate in Syria. The exchange has only further inflamed tensions in the Middle East.

Iranian proxy groups — including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon — have also been involved in escalating skirmishes in the region.