Iranian authorities said they have located Sunday’s crash site of a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a remote area of the country, according to state news agency IRNA. Search and rescue efforts in the country’s northwest mountainous region have been hampered by dense fog, while conditions were made worse as nightfall and cold temperatures set in.

“Various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter,” Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments .

What we know

• Here’s who else was traveling with the Iranian president, :

  • Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

  • Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province Governor Malek Rahmati and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem

  • The representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to East Azerbaijan

• Raisi’s helicopter was one of three traveling in his convoy. The two other helicopters traveling the same route made it back safely to the city of Tabriz.

• Before the crash, the Iranian president traveled to Iran’s northwestern border with Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam project with ​​Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, a sign of warming diplomatic relations.

What we still don’t know

• The condition of the Iranian president and the other officials on board is still unknown.

• If weather conditions caused the helicopter to crash — and why it traveled in this mountainous region despite the dense fog conditions.

Reactions to the crash

The United States does not have official diplomatic relations with Iran. They were severed in April 1980 following the Iranian takeover of the American Embassy in 1979, . President Biden on the crash, while the U.S. State Department said it is “closely following” reports, .

Armenia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Turkey with the search and rescue efforts.

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres was also following the news of the crash. “[Guterres] hopes for the safety of the president and his entourage,” United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement.

Iran made a request to the European Union to activate a special satellite system for emergency mapping services for rescue teams to have better visibility, from European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič.

What if an Iranian president dies or is incapacitated while in office?

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made a public statement on live state television following the crash and said there would be no disruptions to the border, national security or government.

, if an Iranian president dies or is incapacitated while in office, the vice president takes over with the supreme leader’s approval. In this case, it would be: Iranian Vice President Mohsen Mansouri. Then, an election must be arranged to select a new president within a maximum of 50 days. That would be done by a council made up of the original vice president, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary.

Raisi was elected in 2021 and the country’s next presidential elections are currently set to take place in 2025.