A helicopter carrying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was forced to make an emergency landing in a mountainous region north of Tehran on Sunday.

The president’s website later said that no one was hurt.

Ahmadinejad had been on his way to a ceremony to inaugurate a road tunnel, the website said.

It is not known what caused the emergency landing.

Iran’s official news agency says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s helicopter experienced an unspecified ‘incident’ while touring a rural area, but the Iranian president’s pilot landed the aircraft safely and the leader was unhurt.

The report by IRNA did not elaborate on the Sunday incident, which happened as Ahmadinejad was en route to a mountainous area in the north of the country to inaugurate a highway tunnel.

It said the pilot landed skillfully and neither the president nor his companions were hurt. The report said Ahmadinejad made it to the inauguration ceremony on time.

Mr Ahmadinejad is coming to the end of his second term as Iranian president. There are fresh elections later this year, but Mr Ahmadinejad cannot stand again as Iranain rulers are barred from standing for presidential office three times.