A final investigation into the May helicopter crash that killed former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has concluded that the accident was caused by bad weather, the body investigating the case said on Sunday.
The helicopter carrying Raisi, 63, and his entourage crashed into a fog-shrouded mountainside in northern Iran, killing the president and seven others and triggering early elections.
The main cause of the helicopter crash was “difficult weather and atmospheric conditions in the region in spring,” the special commission investigating the extent and causes of the accident said, according to state radio. IRIB.
The report added that “the sudden appearance of a thick, dense, rising mass of fog” caused the helicopter to crash into the mountain.
In May, the Iranian military similarly claimed it had found no evidence of criminal activity in the crash that also killed Raisi's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
In August, Fars News Agency He cited poor weather conditions and the helicopter's inability to take off with two additional passengers, contrary to safety protocols, as the main causes of the May 19 accident.
But the Iranian military was quick to reject the discovery, saying that “what is mentioned in Fars news about the presence of two people in the helicopter contradicts security protocols.” […] “it is completely false.”
