Dubai, May 19: A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating.

Raisi was travelling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province. State TV described the area of the incident happening as being near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometres (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River.

Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country's judiciary. He is viewed as a protégé of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role.

 

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Thane (PTI): Two minor girls were rescued after a prostitution racket was busted in Navi Mumbai, a police official said on Monday.

On a tip off about one Harish running a flesh trade racket, the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch started a probe on February 20, the official said.

"A decoy customer was sent to verify the information, following which a trap was laid in front of a hotel in Sector 11. The Anti Human Trafficking Cell nabbed Harish Vikas Chhari, a resident of Koparkhairane, while his associate Raj Singh is on the run. Two minor girls were rescued," the CBD Belapur police station official said.

A case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the official added.