Janice R. Andrews
Iran’s state TV reported on Sunday that bad weather, including thick fog, was the main cause of the May chopper crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and eight other people. Iran’s military released the final report on the investigation, which shot down earlier claims of foul play or an attack, including rumors that Israel had shot down the chopper.
The crash happened in a hilly area close to the border between Iran and Azerbaijan. President Raisi, who is a conservative and could replace Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was on board with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and seven other people. The chopper went off the edge of a mountain and killed everyone on board right away.
The first reports that came out in May said there was no proof of an attack or hacking. Instead, they said the problems were caused by bad weather. The final report, which was made by a high-level military group in Iran, backs up these conclusions, saying, “The main reason for the helicopter crash was bad weather in the area.”
At first, some people thought that Israel, which has been an enemy of Iran for a long time, might have been involved. But the Iranian military said there was no evidence of an attack. The study stresses that the thick fog in the hilly area was the main reason for the accident that killed President Raisi and others.
People in Iran and around the world are talking about the dangers of traveling in bad weather, especially in places with known for their rough landscape, after the crash. The official results put an end to any ideas of foul play and now the focus is on making safety rules better so that similar things don’t happen again.
