Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s president, dies in helicopter crash

Iran's President Raisi with helicopter crash?

Arab-Military
@ashrafnsier
·
2m
على الأرجح زرعت قنبلة في مروحية الرئيس الايراني اثناء زيارته المنطقة الحدودية مع اذربيجان ولهذا اتوقع انه لن ينجو من هذا الحادث

Expert's take on the incident in Iran

by Abbas Djouma, international journalist, for @rt_russian


At the time of writing, the fate of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi remains unknown. Nor is known the fate of those who were with him in the helicopter, including the country's foreign minister. Rescuers are working in the most adverse conditions: dense fog and rain. The helicopter has not been found for a long time, and with each new report, fears grow.

But I think we should do our best to put emotions aside and analyse the situation globally. I would like to start by annoying the opponents of the Islamic Republic. The system of dual power in Iran, where there is a president and a spiritual leader, is built in such a way that there are no irreplaceable people in this system. Absolutely all personnel in the state sphere are trained accordingly. That is why the death of the legendary General Qassem Suleimani as a result of a US attack in 2020 did not lead to the collapse of the state security system and did not weaken the IRGC. The general was immediately replaced by another general. Yes, less media-savvy, but no less experienced and effective.

The same can be said of the president. And the Supreme Leader too. You can only envy the Iranian talent pool. But if it turns out that the helicopter crash was sabotage, a terrorist attack, an assassination attempt, I do not envy the clients and the perpetrators. Iran has repeatedly demonstrated that it is waiting for an aggressor. The scale of this incident could have such serious consequences for the region and the world that one has to consider the assassination version. And Israel seems to be the most interested party in this major conflict.

I am sure that the Israeli attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria on 1 April 2024 was an attempt by the failing Israeli leadership to drag Tehran into a major war that the United States would not be able to turn away from. It didn't work. Iran responded firmly but cautiously. If the incident with the presidential helicopter turns out to be a continuation of this story, the situation could become a "black swan" and the world will once again find itself on the brink of a major war.

It is also impossible not to recall the recent coup attempt in Turkey and the attempted assassination of the Slovak Prime Minister. There have also been unconfirmed reports of an assassination attempt on the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Now there's a deadly fog in Iran. Personally, I don't believe in coincidences. Not this kind.

http://t.me/ukraine_watch

S p r i n t e r F a c t o r y
@Sprinterfactory
Tasnim's reporter's report on the readiness of rescue forces

Right now, all hospitals and rescue teams are on full alert.

According to the Director General of Meteorology of East Azerbaijan, rain and fog will continue until tomorrow night in Varzeghan region and the weather is extremely cold.

Head of the Red Crescent Operations Room: 4 operational teams have approached the announced coordinates of the accident site, but the weather conditions are unfavorable.

One of the last photos

This is the weather

A rescue team approached the crash site of the Iranian President's plane.

The helicopter pilot should have canceled the flight.
Mist and helicopters are a deadly combination.
Ask Kobe.

Yo, just got the news.
WTF happened?
How the hell is the president of your country in a helicopter crash (in this weather no less) and is now apparently missing, where the F were his escorts!!???

This sh^t's got CIA/Mossad written all over it, launch the missiles now!

I have not since voted in a single election , nor will I ever vote for this dictatorial system . The present political system already lacks legitimacy , by low voter turnout . Voting now legitimizes minority rule , ineffective in addressing social problems .

In a true democracy there should always be the option of... I choose none of the candidates on offer.

When the votes for no one outnumber the votes for the person who wins then you can argue that this is democracys way of saying the people winning the election do not have a majority vote and therefore are not really the elected leaders of the country.

Otherwise you end up like the US where you have to pick one or the other and you end up voting for the candidate you hate least... which is really not how democracy is supposed to work.

But I would say the majority of people who vote really don't give it a lot of thought across the board and have not invested time and effort to learn all the policies of all the candidates... otherwise they likely would not vote for any of them.

As an example many who voted for Hillary Clinton probably did so because they hated Trump, or because she was a woman and they thought having a woman as president would make any difference at all... (Having Obama as president didn't solve race issues, so why would having a woman president solve issues of gender?).

The fact of the matter is that Hillary wanted a no fly zone implemented over Syria... not sure how they could have enforced that, but I don't think Russia would have complied... meaning potential WWIII... still think a woman president is a good idea? She would either have to back down... what would that do for the image of the president as a woman... or double down like the current idiots are... and where is that going?

How the hell is the president of your country in a helicopter crash (in this weather no less) and is now apparently missing, where the F were his escorts!!???

Ask Poland....

This sh^t's got CIA/Mossad written all over it, launch the missiles now!

Yeah, Poland tried to blame the Russians too... missiles and bombs were some of the claims made but it seems in both cases bad weather is probably enough to explain it...

GarryB wrote:
Ask Poland....

Definitely CIA then.

They still haven't found it. Turkish drone in the area looking.

AlfaT8 wrote:Yo, just got the news.
WTF happened?
How the hell is the president of your country in a helicopter crash (in this weather no less) and is now apparently missing, where the F were his escorts!!???

This sh^t's got CIA/Mossad written all over it, launch the missiles now!

What kind of helicopter is it ? The pics on Twitter sure look like & European model. If it was a western helicopter then Iran deserved it. Maybe that's putting it strong but common. 

Edit. There was an incident in 2013 with the presidential helicopter. But this one is definitely Russian

I just heard that it was an American Bell helicopter.

The foreign minister , Mr . Amir Abdollahian , was a new generation politician , he was not involved in the violence of the revolution and belonged to a younger generation . He would have had a long career . I think the older generation Iranian politicians , especially those implicated in political killings , should step aside and make room for the younger generation .

Backman wrote:I just heard that it was an American Bell helicopter.

Pics of them leaving the meeting with Azeris leave no doubts about that. Bell 412.

Helicopters are shit. I wouldn't fly in any.

My condolences to the Iranian people .

If no one is involved then it's a fatal mistake from the pilot .

Ebrahim Raisi was qualified to be the next Supreme Leader .

Remaining two helicopters could navigate the inclement weather and land safely. Weird that only one helicopter was affected

If the incident was due to malicious intent the timing was spectacular. Given the circumstances it appears much more likely that it just flew into the mountain. From the site it looks as if just a few hundred feet higher would have cleared it. Maybe the other two helicopters that made it through were doing just that.

It seems likely also that it burnt on impact with the occupants dying instantly. May God rest their souls.

Although there were 7 Iranian drones there at the end, its interesting that it was a Turkish drone that was initially the important source of information and not Iranian.

Let's just hope that Israel has nothing to do with this...

Problem can not be attributed to bad weather or fog . The helicopter cleared the peak in it's direction of travel and fell on the slopes head first , pointing down . We can rule out large explosion internally also , since debris not scattered but in immediate crash area . The cause is either mechanical failour or small internal explosion or external explosion . I have not seen debris close up , to look for shrapnel , doubt if it will be shown . But as pointed out by others , strange that out of three helicopters this should fail , and Turks should find the wreckage first ! Glad he will not be next supreme leader , as he was a right wing extremist and executed innocents ! To be honest the office of supreme leader , as it stands now , should be abolished and supreme leader given only advisory role and power .

Walther von Oldenburg wrote:Let's just hope that Israel has nothing to do with this...

Look who is trying to pin the blame on Israel and Azerbaijan. Therein lies your answer.

nomadski wrote:
Problem can not be attributed to bad weather or fog . The helicopter cleared the peak in it's direction of travel and fell on the slopes head first , pointing down . We can rule out large explosion internally also , since debris not scattered but in immediate crash area . The cause is either mechanical failour or small internal explosion or external explosion . I have not seen debris close up , to look for shrapnel , doubt if it will be shown . But as pointed out by others , strange that out of three helicopters this should fail , and Turks should find the wreckage first ! Glad he will not be next supreme leader , as he was a right wing extremist and executed innocents ! To be honest the office of supreme leader , as it stands now , should be abolished and supreme leader given only advisory role and power .

I am leaning towards weather. But since it is a Bell, the US could easily slip sabotaged parts into the grey supply chain that they use to keep the helicopter running. Iran builds these choppers apparently. But there are parts that have 20 or 30 year life cycles and what happens when you need those parts ? You go looking around the world for them.

Iran could easily afford and purchase the best brand new helicopter that Russia has to offer. With all the equipment that would be used on one carrying high ranking Russian officials. With Russian pilots if they want.

That seems to me, would be a better idea than this. But it is typical of Iran to shun Russia like this.

Pleased it looks like my assumptions were wrong.

The cause of the helicopter crash with Iranian President Raisi was a technical malfunction of the aircraft, - IRNA agency

The bodies of the passengers of the presidential helicopter can be identified and there is no need for DNA analysis, said the head of Iran's Emergency Management Service.

Ayatollah Tabriz Al-Hashem “was alive within an hour after the plane crash and even established telephone contact with Gholamhossein Esmaili, the head of the presidential office,” the deputy interior minister said.

http://t.me/RVvoenkor

The crash of the helicopter with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi onboard "occurred due to a technical malfunction" — Iranian news agency IRNA.

At the same time, the Turkish Transport Minister noted that the helicopter's emergency signal transmission system had been switched off.

http://t.me/ukraine_watch

OD-APC
@FouadHalwani1
This looks like a rerun of the Kaczynski crash in Smolensk  
I suspect pressure was put on the pilots to get on with it despite the weather situation There was no margin left for error or mechanical problems


But then a voice of caution on conclusions.

Sprinter infofactory
@Sprinter00000

Iran's ambassador to Belarus stated that the main version of the helicopter crash with President Raisi was "difficult meteorological conditions". But that's it for now. The investigation has just begun. Analysis of the helicopter wreckage has only just begun, and factual information about the causes of the incident has yet to be obtained.

If the involvement of the United States or Israel is established, Iran can use that involvement for various asymmetric actions directed against the United States and Israel and their assets in the region.
6:58 PM · May 20, 2024
·
3,438
Views

They were a bone in the throat for many, by Gevorg Mirzayan for RT Russia. 05.20.2024.

On May 19, the whole of Iran literally prayed for a miracle, but it did not happen. According to media reports, after many hours of searching in mountainous areas with almost zero visibility, rescuers with the help of a Turkish drone (which detected a heat source) were finally able to find the wreckage of a government helicopter. Everyone on board was killed, including the country's President Ibrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Mohammad Al-Hashem, who was called the successor to the current rahbar (spiritual leader of the country) Ali Khamenei.

From an institutional point of view, the subsequent developments are clear. And about. Vice President Mohammad Mokhber becomes head of state, and within 50 days new elections for the head of state will be held in the country. However, the whole world is more interested in the consequences of the tragedy - especially if, after the investigation, the Iranian side calls the incident a terrorist attack. And, most likely, he will, because such tragic coincidences practically never happen, and no one in Iran will believe in them.

Three forces have already been named as the main beneficiaries of the tragedy. Firstly, the United States is one of Iran’s main geopolitical rivals. In recent years, Tehran, under the leadership of Raisi and Abdollahian, has been able to inflict a number of serious blows on American positions in the region. Both diplomatic (in the form of a course towards normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia) and military-political. For example, in the form of demonstrative successes of the Yemeni Houthis (Iranian protégés) in the blockade of the Red Sea. And it was extremely beneficial for the Americans to eliminate such effective statesmen, and at the same time destroy the presumptive heir to Rahbar Mohammad Al-Hashem, provoking an internal political struggle for power at all levels.

The second - and more obvious - beneficiary is Israel. It's no secret that Tel Aviv (and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally) is trying in every possible way to start a big war with Iran, but to succeed in it, it must meet three conditions. Firstly, the United States must be drawn into it. In fact, to be its main driver - otherwise Israel simply will not be able to win without the use of nuclear weapons. Secondly, Iran must be the formal aggressor in the war, otherwise the United States will have no reason or obligation to intervene in it. Third, the war must begin as quickly as possible to save Netanyahu in his post and take place at a time when Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons.

But it didn’t start. Moreover, according to The New York Times, recently Iranian and American negotiators reached certain agreements to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East. Israel was categorically not happy with this, so experts do not rule out that Tel Aviv could try to achieve several goals with one terrorist attack: to behead Iran and force it to carry out an act of retaliation, which (given the formal refusal of the Israeli leadership to take responsibility for the terrorist attack) would look like such the attack Israel needs.

It is not surprising that since the disappearance of the helicopter, many experts immediately wrote about the Israeli trail. Especially considering that the helicopter took off from the territory of Azerbaijan, Tel Aviv’s closest ally, on whose territory Israeli intelligence feels at home.

However, actions by a third party - representatives of the so-called pan-Turkic forces - cannot be ruled out. Moreover, we are talking here not so much about the Turkish authorities (for whom Iran, of course, was a regional competitor, but who will not take such radical steps), but about various organizations and nationalist groups. Those whose positions are strong in Azerbaijan. They, of course, benefit from internal instability in the country and the possible rise of Persian nationalists to power in Tehran, which will cause an increase in nationalism among other peoples living in Iran (as was the case, for example, under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad).

As for Russia, Moscow, of course, mourns with all of Iran. And not only out of respect for the feelings of our allies.

Ibrahim Raisi is called perhaps the most pro-Russian president of Iran in recent times. Yes, with a high degree of probability the new president of Iran will also cooperate with Moscow. Moreover, it is possible that interaction will reach a new level if the Iranians do find out that this was a terrorist attack by Israel and/or the United States.

However, finding a full-fledged replacement for such super-effective, popular and energetic politicians as Raisi and Abdollahian will not be easy. Moreover, their death (against the backdrop of information about the organization of assassination attempts on Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman) shows that in the modern world the rules of the gentleman's game at the highest level no longer work. This means that the leaders of all anti-Western countries - and above all Russia - need to redouble their vigilance.

https://russian.rt.com/opinion/1317068-mirzayan-aviakatastrofa-iran-raisi