The Daily Populous Monday May 20th, 2024 night edition
Authored by jpost.com and submitted by woshinoemi

The Islamic regime in Iran expressed concern for the lives of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian after the helicopter they were traveling in suffered a "hard landing" on Sunday afternoon.

Details about the incident remained unclear, although reports indicated that the president’s helicopter suffered a “hard landing” in foggy weather. As night fell, the search became even more difficult. According to the Iranian IRNA news agency, the helicopter crashed in a forest area between the villages of Pir Davood and Uzi in northwestern Iran.

IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency said emergency services were conducting searches to try to find the helicopter, but the weather and 70-meter tall boulders in the area were complicating the search efforts. Over 40 rescue teams were operating in the area.

The reformist Ensaf News site cited an informed source as saying the crash was “serious” and that there was a “high probability” of injuries. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi seen before boarding a helicopter in Azerbaijan, May 19, 2024 (credit: MEHR NEWS AGENCY)

State TV quoted an official as saying at least one passenger and one crew member had been in contact with rescuers. It also said the helicopter had been found, though Iran's Red Crescent denied this report.

Iranian FM, regional leaders in helicopter with Raisi

Amir-Abdollahian and Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist in East Azerbaijan and the Imam of Friday Prayer in Tabriz, were reportedly in the helicopter.

The deputy coordinator of civil affairs of East Azerbaijan said there were three helicopters in the convoy, two of which landed safely and one that crashed, according to Iranian state media. The deputy coordinator added that he did not know any details about casualties or the exact cause of the accident.

Iranian media reported that some people were able to talk with Ale-Hashem shortly after the incident but that contact had since been lost.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Iranians to pray for Raisi’s health on Sunday evening, saying, “If the people of Iran do not worry, there will be no disruption in the work of the country.”

Regime religious leaders held prayers for Raisi in several locations across Iran, according to state media.

قرائت دعای توسل در حرم‌های رضوی و حضرت معصومه برای سلامتی رئیس‌جمهور و همراهان pic.twitter.com/OoTIr6bGcM — خبرگزاری فارس (@FarsNews_Agency) May 19, 2024

Raisi had met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev earlier on Sunday on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border.

Raisi is often referred to as the “butcher of Tehran” in light of his involvement in the mass executions of Iranian political prisoners in the 1980s.

US 'closely watching' reports about Raisi crash

The US State Department is closely watching reports of the crash of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister, a US State Department spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday.

Aliyev said he was "seriously worried" about Raisi on Sunday evening.

"Our prayers to Almighty God are with President Ibrahim Raisi and his accompanying delegation. As a neighboring, friendly and brotherly country, the Republic of Azerbaijan is ready to provide all kinds of support," said Aliyev.

The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, announced on Sunday evening that the EU had activated the Copernicus Emergency Management Service's rapid response mapping service in the area of the helicopter crash in order to help find Raisi after receiving a request to do so from Iran.

According to Monday overnight Iranian reports, Russia has dispatched to Tabriz two advanced aircraft, three helicopters, and about 50 professional mountain rescue personnel. Additionally, according to reports, search teams have examined satellite maps of the area where the helicopter carrying Iran's president crashed.

In a meeting of President Putin and the Iranian ambassador, Putin stated, "We are deeply saddened by the helicopter incident involving the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Iranian media reported.

Iranian Red Crescent also reported on Monday overnight that it will not spare any effort in searching for President Raisi, and that 65 rescue teams were searching for the crashed helicopter in the vicinity of the Sungun copper mine in the east.

Furthermore, the Iranian Red Crescent has increased its number of teams searching to 21 and supplied them with advanced and specialized equipment sent from Tehran. Additionally, seven Iranian drones along with one Turkish drone were operating in the area of the crash, Iranian news reported citing an informed source.

Reports state that due to weather conditions, including snow, in the area, the search teams were facing reduced visibility and environmental hazards which hinder their efforts to find the Iranian president.

Search teams have possibly found the location of President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crash after detecting the smell of fuel, according to a later Monday overnight report on Iranian media.

LongLiveAlex on May 19th, 2024 at 15:37 UTC »

As someone who’s Iranian, this guy is a fucking monster who has blood on his hands for ordering the execution of many of my fellow countrymen.

I wish him the absolute worst.

Ask4MD on May 19th, 2024 at 15:07 UTC »

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.

Luccca on May 19th, 2024 at 13:43 UTC »

No update yet, which is weird if he has survived. So they either don’t know his status, or he has died and they’re working on an official statement. My two cents.