NO SIGN OF FOUL PLAY SO FAR IN RAISI HELICOPTER CRASH IRAN ARMY SAYS

A preliminary report on the crash by the general staff of the armed forces said the craft had “caught fire after hitting an elevated area”, finding no traces of “bullet holes” on the helicopter wreckage, according to the official IRNA news agency late on Thursday.

“No suspicious content was observed during the communications between the watch tower and the flight crew,” it added.

The final communication between the president’s craft and two accompanying helicopters was recorded about a minute and a half before the crash, according to a statement from the general staff of the armed forces, broadcast on state television on Thursday night.

Iran’s state TV footage shows Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials in helicopter before crash. pic.twitter.com/vVe47nrak9

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) May 19, 2024

The helicopter wreckage had been found in Iran’s mountainous northwest by Iranian drones early on Monday, with the “complexity of the area, fog and low temperature” hindering the work of search and rescue teams.

However, while the first statement on the crash did not lay blame, it said that more details would follow. More time was needed, the army said, to conduct investigations.

Bodies of President Raisi and delegation being transported

The head of the Red Crescent, Pir-Hossein Kolivand, said that the bodies of President Ebrahim Raisi and his accompanying delegation are being transported, with the search operation now concluded. Kolivand confirmed that… pic.twitter.com/ClcSkiq3Ip

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) May 20, 2024

Ageing helicopter

The ageing Bell helicopter that crashed was carrying Raisi and his entourage home from a trip to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan on Sunday.

The president had earlier inaugurated a dam project with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Foreign sanctions on Iran dating back to the 1979 revolution, and subsequently imposed over its nuclear programme and its backing of the so-called “axis of resistance”, have made it difficult for the country to obtain aircraft parts or new aircraft. 

Iranian President Raisi dies with other occupants of helicopter

The first footage of the presidential helicopter as seen on a drone screen. Nothing is left but the tail.

Raisi and Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian, along with others who were on board the helicopter that crashed,… pic.twitter.com/OcM1f7KnI2

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) May 20, 2024

Raisi was laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday, concluding days of funeral ceremonies in some of Iran’s major cities including the capital attended by throngs of mourners.

Among the people killed in the incident was Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian who was also buried on Thursday in the town of Shahr-e Ray, south of the capital.

A presidential election has been scheduled for June 28.