News - Middle East: Rescue teams have located the wreckage of the helicopter that crashed while carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and his companions in the country's northwest.

Pir-Hossein Koulivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), announced it in televised remarks in the wee hours of Monday morning.

He said there was no sign of any survivors in the incident that took place on Sunday.

However, there is no official confirmation so far of the search and rescue operation concluding.

The chopper that was transporting President Raeisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and their companions encountered some difficulties and was forced to make a "hard landing".

The incident happened in the Dizmar forest, nestled between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azerbaijan province. 

President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation were returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

Source: Press TV