Ibrahim Raisi’s helicopter suddenly disappeared: Chief of Staff

Former Iranian Sadr Ibrahim Raisi Chief of Staff Ghulam Hussain Ismaili says that during the flight, the presidential helicopter suddenly disappeared from the middle.

He made a speech on the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) on May 21, 2024 The interview The details of the helicopter crash that occurred on May 19, moments before.

As a result of this accident, President Ibrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province Malik Rahmati, Representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in East Azerbaijan Province, Ayatollah Muhammad Ali Al-Hashim and others died.

Ghulam Hussain Ismaili said in an interview given to the government TV Iran The weather in the Warzaqan area of ​​the US, where President Raisi’s helicopter crashed, was initially perfect for most of the flight.

Ismaili was aboard one of three helicopters, returning from an inauguration ceremony for a dam on Iran’s border with the Republic of Azerbaijan.

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He said that the helicopters took off on May 19 at 1 pm local time while the weather was normal in the area.

45 minutes into the flight, the pilot of President Raisi’s helicopter, who was in charge of the convoy, ordered the other helicopters to increase altitude to avoid the nearby clouds.

However, the President’s helicopter, which was flying between two other helicopters, suddenly disappeared.

Ismaili said that after 30 seconds of flying above the clouds, our pilot noticed that the helicopter in the middle had disappeared.

He further said that the pilot decided to go back to search for the President’s helicopter.

Tehran, September 19, 2022: Photo taken during an interview of the Iranian president with the American broadcaster CBS. (Photo: Iranian Presidency / AFP)

Ismaili said that after several attempts to contact the president’s helicopter through radio devices and unable to lower altitude due to clouds, his helicopter continued its flight and landed at a nearby copper mine.

He said Foreign Minister Amir Abdullahian and the head of the President’s Protection Unit did not return repeated calls after that.

However, the official said that the pilots of two other helicopters had contacted Captain Mustafavi, who was in charge of the president’s helicopter, but who picked up the call was Muhammad Ali Al-Hashim, the Friday prayer imam in Tabriz, who was unwell. But he said that the helicopter has crashed in a valley.

Second, Ismaili contacted Al-Hashim himself and received the same answers about the situation.

He said that when we found the place of the incident, it was found from the condition of the bodies that Ibrahim Raisi and other companions died immediately but Ali Al Hashim died after several hours.

The Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri, has ordered an investigation into the causes of the helicopter crash.

AFP reported, citing Iranian news agency Asna, that Mohammad Baqeri on Monday “ordered a high-level committee to begin an investigation into the causes of the accident that befell the president’s helicopter.”