The large-scale search and rescue operation ended as the dead bodies were sent to a place in East Azarbaijan province where the martyrs of Tabriz are buried, Pir Hossein Kolivand said in televised remarks on Monday.
Ebrahim Raisi, the eighth president of Iran, has been martyred after a helicopter carrying him and his entourage crashed in the Varzaqan region in the northwest province of East Azarbaijan on Sunday.
Elaborating on the latest situation of the search and rescue operation, Kolivand said the IRCS expert teams were present in the area as of yesterday but the bad weather and the heavy fog hindered the search process.
Finally, early on Monday, the rescue teams managed to find the scene of the incident, the official added.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Iranian cabinet noted that the popular president of Iran, Ayatollah Raisi, has been martyred on the birth anniversary of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Shia Imam. He was to return to Tehran from Tabriz, where he attended an opening ceremony on a joint Iran-Azerbaijan dam project.
The Iranian government held an emergency meeting after the development.
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