Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Bell 212 Crash

An Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Bell 212 carrying the president, foreign minister and six other occupants crashed into a cloud-covered mountainside in East Azerbaijan Province while returning from a dam inauguration near the Azerbaijani border. Iranian authorities confirmed that all eight people aboard were killed. Search teams found the wreckage in the forested mountains near Varzaqan after difficult operations in fog and rain. Subsequent reporting described the nearly 30-year-old helicopter as an air-force aircraft; the immediate reporting did not establish a definitive cause.