BEIJING: China said on Monday it was “deeply concerned” after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter went missing in what Tehran‘s state media described as an accident, and pledged to help the rescue operation.
Contact was lost with the aircraft carrying Raisi, as well as Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and others, in East Azerbaijan province in northwest Iran on Sunday, reports said.
Iran’s Red Crescent said on Monday the helicopter had been found and the situation was “not good”.
“The Chinese side is deeply concerned about the hard landing of the helicopter in which President Raisi was travelling, and we wish President Raisi and the crew on board safe and sound,” state broadcaster CCTV quoted Beijing’s foreign ministry as saying.
China was closely monitoring the situation and would “provide all necessary support and assistance” to the rescue operations, it added.
China is a close partner of Iran, its largest trade partner, and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil.
Tehran and Beijing have deepened trade ties in recent years, though Beijing’s efforts to pull Iran into its flagship Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure project have been complicated by sanctions.
Beijing has also long played a critical role in arming Iran, aiding its efforts to modernise its military hardware and tactics.
It has also facilitated the “transfer of technology and machinery” for Iran’s illicit nuclear program, according to the RAND Corporation.
The United States has repeatedly made public appeals for China to use its influence over Tehran to manage tensions in the region, which have been heightened by the Israel-Hamas conflict.