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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
BREAKING: Iranian President's Helo Suffers 'Accident' or 'Incident' - Either Way, It Went Down
2024-05-19
Text added with all updates posted at the site as of 3:00 pm ET. Not prettied up, but y’all can go to the tweets if you want. Also, I set it as an update to today’s headline. Finally, thank to Frank G for posting, and all who added updates in comments — you all are why we all come here to find out what’s going on in the world.
[HotAir, HT Grom] A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without immediately elaborating.

Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Traveling with Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash” to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.

Beege Welborn

There's lots of CYA and fancy lingo coming out of Tehran right now as you can imagine. Shoud be interesting watching this shake out and what - or WHO - gets blamed.

Raisi would be no loss to humanity, that's for sure.

As a young man, Ebrahim Raisi sentenced thousands of innocent Iranians to execution.

He was known as the hang man and butcher of Tehran. Now he's the hangman of the whole nation.

If Raisi is confirmed dead, millions will celebrate across Iran. pic.twitter.com/7v5NZg9AYG

— Nioh Berg ♛ ✡︎ אסתר (@NiohBerg) May 19, 2024
Time and unraveling the various stories will tell.

UPDATE Welp, looks like the Iranian news services are setting the stage for news. They'd already deleted a tweet where Raisi was taking a cab home (seriously - they did).

As has President Rais...oops https://t.co/S1h71ewdNe

— tree hugging s*ster 🎃 (@WelbornBeege) May 19, 2024
So I guess things are a bit grimmer on the ground and they can't cover for what they're going to pull out of the site.

#BREAKING: "high" possibility of casualties due to the "seriousness" of the accident involving President Raisi - IRIB News Agency

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) May 19, 2024
UPDATE to the UPDATE: Let me just add as an aviation type, with these videos coming out of the crash site, no one should have been flying in that goo to begin with in a helo. Ask Kobe Bryant if you don't believe me.

Iranian television is airing coverage of the rescue efforts and the accident site. https://t.co/HvVVeO0ng5 pic.twitter.com/TUQZyVd9vs

— Israel News Pulse (@israelnewspulse) May 19, 2024
UPDATED UPDATE: As Ebola just said, this is starting to sound like Warhammer Fantasy. Wolves and bears enter the picture, baby.

JUST IN: REPORT:

It's now nighttime, and the rescue teams have yet to reach the crash site.
The Iranian Red Crescent has reported that some of their own rescue teams are lost.

Locals suggest that the area becomes a hunting ground for wolves and bears at night, raising… https://t.co/2n29JQviTT pic.twitter.com/cqJaVK8y60

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 19, 2024
It's now nighttime, and the rescue teams have yet to reach the crash site. The Iranian Red Crescent has reported that some of their own rescue teams are lost.

Locals suggest that the area becomes a hunting ground for wolves and bears at night, raising concerns that if the crew is injured, nature may take its course.

I'm not concerned. You concerned?

HELLO: Looks like they've stumbled across something in the dark. Nothing more than that at the moment.

BREAKING - IRAN'S PRESIDENT RAISI'S CRASHED HELICOPTER HAS BEEN FOUND BY SEARCH TEAMS - STATE TV pic.twitter.com/ISgNiQIOIB

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) May 19, 2024
Read More From NY Post
Related:
East Azerbaijan province: 2022-03-13 Missiles fired from Iran fall near US consulate in Erbil, Iraq
East Azerbaijan province: 2021-10-24 Iran opens a criminal investigation into an assault against East Azerbaijan province's new governor during his inauguration ceremony
East Azerbaijan province: 2021-04-06 Iran: East Azerbaijan has announced the arrest of an ''Israeli spy and several spies of the security services of different countries''
Related:
Jolfa: 2011-01-10 Foreign woman arrested on Iran border released
Jolfa: 2004-12-28 Iran reviews case of woman sentenced to hang
Jolfa: 2004-12-19 Adulteress faces noose or stoning in Iran
Related:
Ebrahim Raisi 04/24/2024 Iranian president threatens Israel's annihilation if major attack occurs
Ebrahim Raisi 04/23/2024 Iran, Pakistan determined to fight terror, says Raisi in joint presser with Shehbaz

Ebrahim Raisi 04/08/2024 Iran executions hit eight-year high in 2023: Amnesty

Related:
Hossein Amirabdollahian 05/07/2024 Hamas claims to accept ceasefire, hostage deal; Israel: This isn't what we agreed to
Hossein Amirabdollahian 02/10/2024 Iran vows to keep backing Hezbollah during regional tensions linked to Israel-Hamas war
Hossein Amirabdollahian 10/16/2023 Report: Iran Threatens Direct Intervention If Israel Invades Gaza

Posted by:Frank G

#35  Iran says there is 'no sign of life at crash site' of president Raisi
Posted by: Skidmark   2024-05-19 23:39  

#34  Iran state media sez “he’s dead, Jim”
Posted by: Ululating Platypus   2024-05-19 23:32  

#33  VFR -> fog -> loss of orientation -> controlled flight into terrain -> toast -> celebration in Persia
Posted by: Nero   2024-05-19 22:39  

#32  Early Monday morning a Turkish drone identified a "source of heat...

Smoldering ashes?
Posted by: Angealing+B.+Hayes4677   2024-05-19 22:31  

#31  

Early Monday morning a Turkish drone identified a "source of heat suspected to be wreckage of helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi and shares its coordinates with Iranian authorities," reported the Anadolu News Agency on X
Posted by: NoMoreBS    2024-05-19 21:51  

#30  If they need a new President I think Biden would be a great choice. He has experience and loves Iran.
Posted by: Airandee   2024-05-19 20:52  

#29  I think it'd be wonderful if the people on the helo are killed and eaten by wildlife. I would pity the wildlife of course, but it would be a fitting end for them.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2024-05-19 20:32  

#28  The last thing that went through the pilot's mind: Ebrahim Raisi's teeth...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2024-05-19 18:42  

#27  Maybe their hell is a well where the 12th Imam doeth dwell.
Posted by: Mullah Richard OTR   2024-05-19 18:35  

#26  Whiskey Mike - yes, mocking them with movie quotes is the way to go.

Next up - Get to The Choppah!
Posted by: Raj   2024-05-19 17:39  

#25  You think Hell has enough room for half a dozen Iranian big turbans arriving all at once?
Posted by: jpal   2024-05-19 16:42  

#24  #6, Raj: I thought your comment was perfect. This whole thing has made my day. I hope the bears and wolves have strong stomachs.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike   2024-05-19 16:37  

#23  
Posted by: badanov   2024-05-19 16:27  

#22  
Posted by: badanov   2024-05-19 16:24  

#21  Let's not jump to conclusions here, they may committed suicide. 8-/
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2024-05-19 16:10  

#20  The Times of Israel has some background information on President Raisi:

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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Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone and missile attack on Israel last month, and continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Posted by: trailing wife   2024-05-19 15:37  

#19  Black Turban Down
Posted by: European Conservative   2024-05-19 15:26  

#18  You people got it all wrong. Chalk it up to yet ANOTHER Fauci Flu death.

Posted by: DooDahMan   2024-05-19 15:21  

#17  #13 But he is/was Khamenei chosen successor.
Posted by: Grom the reflective   2024-05-19 15:16  

#16  Sorry — no update to the site headline. At the moment there’s a trick to it that I don’t know.
Posted by: trailing wife   2024-05-19 15:13  

#15  Wikipedia reports about the governor of East Azerbaijan:

Malek Rahmati (Persian: مالک رحمتی) is an Iranian politician who has served as governor-general of East Azerbaijan province since 2024.[1] He previously headed the Privatization Organization of Iran from 2023 to 2024.[2]

On May 19, 2024, a helicopter carrying Rahmati — alongside president Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and representative of the Supreme Leader in East Azerbaijan Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem — crashed in Varazqan in East Azerbaijan province. His condition is unknown.[3]
Posted by: trailing wife   2024-05-19 15:10  

#14  The Guardian says that Iran TV says that they found the chopper.
Posted by: Grom the reflective   2024-05-19 14:54  

#13  Iranian presidents are flunkies, not Biden level flunkies, but like Johnny Bravo, they fit the turban.
Posted by: Super Hose   2024-05-19 13:50  

#12  Iran's Tasnim news agency said that after communications with the chopper carrying the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, one of the passengers on board was able to make contact "and therefore it seems there were no casualties."
Posted by: Grom the reflective   2024-05-19 13:41  

#11  Iranians in Iran are setting off fireworks in celebration of the possible death of the President.
Posted by: Angealing+B.+Hayes4677   2024-05-19 13:39  

#10  Biden will order US flags to be flown at half staff. Will send Hussein Obama as head of US delegation.
Posted by: Angealing+B.+Hayes4677   2024-05-19 13:33  

#9  Clarice Feldman on FB:
OSINTdefender
@sentdefender

A Significant Deployment of Iranian Security and Military Personnel has been noted across the Capital of Tehran, with Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to be taking up Positions near several Government Buildings.
Posted by: Frank G   2024-05-19 13:13  

#8  #3 video shows heavy fog
Posted by Lord Garth


See: Bryant, Kobe
Posted by: Frank G   2024-05-19 12:31  

#7  He suffered from poor health, but didn't realize it
Posted by: Black+Bart+Ebbusogum2981   2024-05-19 12:16  

#6  Andrei - you've lost another helicopter?

/wrong thread?
Posted by: Raj   2024-05-19 11:55  

#5  Maybe, just maybe, some people in Iran weren't happy with April 13th.
Posted by: Grom the reflective   2024-05-19 11:36  

#4  ...The reports coming out of Iran sound like they're getting ready to tell people that he's got the dead.

Mike
Posted by: MikeKozlowski   2024-05-19 11:30  

#3  video shows heavy fog
Posted by: Lord Garth   2024-05-19 11:23  

#2  It's a helicopter. The fact that it flies at all is unnatural.
Posted by: SteveS   2024-05-19 11:09  

#1  Zero: Iranian President Raisi's Helicopter Goes Down In Remote Area, Rescuers Trying To Reach Site

There are breaking reports that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been in a helicopter crash in a remote northern area of the country and that rescuers are trying to reach him and his crew.

State media is currently calling it a "hard landing" - suggesting that the president is alive and well, however no other details on the precise nature of the helicopter incident have been revealed. According to the NYT, 16 rescue teams have been dispatched to locate the helicopter, however inclement weather are hampering the effort, according to the reports. The teams have failed to locate the crash after nearly five hours.
Posted by: Frank G   2024-05-19 11:09  

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