MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to offer all necessary assistance in the search operation for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter that crash landed in northwestern Iran, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"We are closely following the reports about the passengers of the third helicopter, which carried top-ranking Iranian officials, including President Raisi," she told TASS. "We sincerely hope that they are alive and their lives are out of danger. Russia is ready to offer all necessary help in the search for the missing helicopter and the investigation of the accident."

The Tasnim news agency reported earlier that the helicopter carrying the Iranian president made an emergency landing near the village of Uzi in Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several other Iranian officials were onboard the helicopter. The search operation is complicated by the heavy fog. On Sunday morning, Raisi visted Azerbaijan.