The plane crashed into a mountainside and burnt out completely, according to the head of the organisation, Pir Hossein Kolivand.
- An examination of the wreckage of the crashed helicopter showed no sign of any living passengers, Kolivand said.

The search and rescue operation was hampered by dense fog and the onset of darkness. The poor conditions meant that the rescue helicopter was unable to reach the area where the helicopter was believed to be.

The crash occurred as President Raisi was returning from a ceremony to open a dam on the Araks River on the Iran-Azerbaijan border, which he attended with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev.