Iran rules out foul play in helicopter crash killing President, foreign minister
The 63-year-old president and his companions were killed when the helicopter went down. A preliminary report by the general staff of the armed forces said that no bullet holes or similar impacts were observed on the helicopter wreckage.
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FollowIn a recent development, Iran has announced that no evidence of criminal activity has been found in the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of the country's president, Ebrahim Raisi, and seven others. The tragic incident took place on Sunday (May 19) while the helicopter was returning from a dam inauguration near the Azerbaijan border in Iran's mountainous northwest.
The 63-year-old president and his companions were killed when the helicopter went down. A preliminary report by the general staff of the armed forces said that no bullet holes or similar impacts were observed on the helicopter wreckage.
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The report indicated that the helicopter caught fire after hitting an elevated area. It added that there was no suspicious communication between the watch tower and the flight crew. The helicopter had been flying on a pre-planned route and did not deviate from its designated flight path before the crash.
Iranian drones found the wreckage early on Monday, but the complexity of the area, along with fog and low temperatures, hindered the efforts of search and rescue teams. The army noted that more time is needed to complete the investigation and promised to release further details later.
President Raisi was laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday, following days of funeral ceremonies in major cities, including the capital, Tehran, where throngs of mourners gathered. Among those killed in the crash was Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who was also buried on Thursday in Shahre Ray, south of the capital.
