Fresh Details Emerge On Iran’s President Raisi’s Helicopter Crash, Death

Further details have emerged regarding the helicopter crash in Iran, which tragically claimed the lives of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and two local officials.

Naija News reported earlier that President Raisi and others were involved in the helicopter crash, which happened on Sunday, and were subsequently confirmed dead by the Iran authority.

During an interview with journalists in the country, Iran’s presidential chief of staff, Gholamhossein Esmaili, told Iran State TV that the weather conditions in the Varzaqan region, where the crash occurred, were favourable both at the beginning and for the majority of the flight, which took place the day before.

It is worth noting that Esmaili himself was aboard one of the three helicopters that were returning from a dam inauguration ceremony on Iran’s border with the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The helicopters departed at approximately 1 pm local time on May 19, as stated by him, with normal weather conditions prevailing in the vicinity.

Following 45 minutes into the journey, the pilot responsible for President Raisi’s convoy instructed the other helicopters to ascend in order to steer clear of an approaching cloud.

Nevertheless, the president’s helicopter, positioned amidst the two others, unexpectedly vanished.

“After 30 seconds of flying over the clouds, our pilot noticed that the helicopter in the middle had disappeared,” Esmaili said, adding that the pilot decided to circle and return to search for the president’s helicopter.

Esmail stated that despite multiple attempts to communicate with the president’s helicopter using radio devices, they were unsuccessful due to the presence of clouds, which prevented the helicopter from descending. Nonetheless, their helicopter continued its journey and eventually landed at a nearby copper mine.

Esmail further mentioned that both the foreign minister, Amirabdollahian, and the head of the president’s protection unit did not respond to repeated calls after the incident.

However, the official clarified that the pilots of the other two helicopters were able to establish contact with Captain Mostafavi, who was responsible for the president’s helicopter.

Surprisingly, Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the Tabriz Friday prayer leader, answered the call despite his unfavourable condition. Ale-Hashem informed them that the helicopter had crashed into a valley.

Esmaili himself later contacted Ale-Hashem for a second time and received the same information regarding the situation.

“When we found the location of the accident, the conditions of the bodies indicated that Ayatollah Raisi and other companions had died instantly but Ale-Hashem had been martyred after several hours,” he said.

After the procession in Tabriz, Iranians gathered to bid farewell to the late President Raisi.

Naija News understands that funeral ceremonies for Iranian state dignitaries are known to take place over an extended period of time in various locations.

Following the ceremony in Tabriz, the bodies of Raisi, aged 63, and Amirabdollahian, aged 60, will be transported to Tehran for another ceremony.

The bodies were first taken to Qom, a city of religious significance in central Iran, before being moved to the capital. Today, a larger ceremony is scheduled to be held in Tehran, where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is expected to lead the prayers alongside foreign dignitaries.

Initially, reports indicated that the late president would be laid to rest on Tuesday.

However, due to the three-day burial ceremonies that commenced on Tuesday, Raisi’s remains will now be interred tomorrow in his hometown of Mashhad, the second largest city in Iran.

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