Iran: Helicopter with President Ebrahim Raisi ‘hard lands’

Tehran: A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and several other senior leaders, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, experienced an 'incident' in the country's east Azerbaijan on Sunday following bad weather, and rescue teams were on their way to the area, reports said. The helicopter, one of three travelling in a convoy, made a "hard landing" after it got into difficulties in heavy fog in northern Iran, as per Iranian media.

Earlier, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has invited international investors and the member states of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) to participate in the country's energy projects.

Raisi made the remarks on Saturday at the seventh GECF Summit in the Algerian capital Algiers, according to a statement published on the website of his office.

He noted that Iran welcomed GECF members to start systematic cooperation in making joint investments for exchanging information and experience in gas extraction, processing, transfer, trade and related technologies, Xinhua news agency reported.

He added that Iran has huge natural gas reserves, a favourable geographical position regarding gas transit and advanced technological capacities.

Raisi said Iran is ready to become an energy hub and a safe route for gas distribution and transfer between producers and their target markets.

According to the Energy Information Administration affiliated with the US Department of Energy, Iran sits on the world's second-largest gas reserves.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for restraint amid escalating tensions following Iran’s weekend drone and missile attack on Israel, Al Jazeera reported.

Putin conveyed his message during a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday, focusing on “retaliatory measures taken by Iran” in response to an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus earlier on April 1.

In the call, Putin stressed the importance of avoiding actions that could lead to further confrontation and potentially catastrophic outcomes for the Middle East. The Kremlin emphasised Putin’s hope for all parties to exercise restraint.

Also Read: Russian President Vladimir Putin urges restraint in call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (sentinelassam.com)

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