Helicopter Carrying Iran’s President Raisi Crashes, Condition Unknown
Reports of celebrations among Iranians following the possible death of “the Butcher of Tehran.”
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and senior regime officials crashed in northern Iran on Sunday, raising speculations whether the person known as “the Butcher of Tehran” survived the accident.
“A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday,” the Associated Press reported.
“Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said what it called a “hard landing” happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran,” AP added.
Israeli TV channel i24NEWS cites Iranian reports saying “that there could be causalities among those who were onboard.”
News reports suggest that the rescuers have located the crash site. “The helicopter that crashed has been found by search teams, Iranian state TV reported. There is no update yet on the condition of those onboard,” the British newspaper Guardian reported.
The crash took place at a crucial time when Iran is reportedly weeks away from acquiring a nuclear bomb. Tehran opened direct hostilities with Israel on April 13 by launching hundreds of drones and missiles towards the country, almost all of them intercepted by Israel, the U.S. and other Western allies.
Last video of Iran's president before helicopter crash.#raisi #Azerbaïdjan pic.twitter.com/esl3QDNtmj
— Alja (@abdirashid44) May 19, 2024
The Reuters reported:
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog, an Iranian official told Reuters, and rescuers were struggling to reach the site of the incident.
The official said the lives of Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were “at risk following the helicopter crash”, which happened on the way back from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan in Iran’s northwest.
“We are still hopeful but information coming from the crash site is very concerning,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power in the Islamic Republic, sought to reassure Iranians, saying there would be no disruption to state affairs.
Iranian state media said bad weather was the cause of the crash and was complicating rescue efforts. The chief of staff of Iran’s army ordered all the resources of the army and the elite Revolutionary Guard to be put to use in search and rescue operations.
There were reports of celebrations among Iranians following the news of the crash.
Iranians are setting off fireworks inside Iran to celebrate the helicopter crash of Islamic regime President Raisi. 😮
IRGC forces have been, according to my sources on the ground, sent out to discourage celebrations and are visibly patrolling. pic.twitter.com/yvyksbUGek
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) May 19, 2024
Iranians celebrating the Raisi helicopter crash with fireworks. They believe he's dead.
"I hope the rest of them die in the same," the voice on the video says. pic.twitter.com/ols40xlWVJ
— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) May 19, 2024
Israel’s war cabinet minister Gantz issues ultimatum, threatens to quit Netanyahu gov over Gaza strategy
Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz has threatened to bring down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government if a comprehensive plan for Gaza is not presented by June 8.
Gantz issued an ultimatum on Saturday night warning that his eight-member National Unity Party, “we will withdraw from the government, turn to the people, and form a government that can bring about a real victory.”
Media reports suggest that Gantz is Biden White House’s favourite candidate to replace Netanyahu.
In early March “Joe Biden’s White House (…) treated a visiting foreign cabinet minister [Gantz] as though he were head of government,” the UK newspaper Financial Times reported. “Praying that Benny Gantz will replace Benjamin Netanyahu as the country’s next prime minister is now the US president’s unofficial policy.”
The Biden White House and leading Democrats is furious with Israel’s current war effort against Hamas in Gaza under Netanyahu’s leadership. In mid-march, Biden backed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer call for new elections in Israel.
Gantz’s departure from the national unity government, created in the wake of the October 7 massacre, will not bring down the ruling coalition. Netanyahu will still hold the majority in the Knesset thanks to the right-wing alliance he came to office with.
If Gantz pulls out of the government, “Netanyahu would be returned to the 64-member right, far-right and ultra-Orthodox bloc with which he won the November 2022 election,” the Times of Israel noted. Gantz “does not currently have the Knesset numbers to bring that coalition down,” the news website added.
The Israeli news website Ynet reported Gantz’s ultimatum:
National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz issued an ultimatum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday evening, stating that his party will leave the government if the Cabinet does not approve a comprehensive war strategy by June 8.
“It is my duty to tell the public the truth after repeatedly stating it behind closed doors – personal and political considerations have started to infiltrate the holy of holies of Israel’s security, and a small minority has taken control of the command bridge,” Gantz said at a press conference.
“In order for us to fight shoulder to shoulder, the War Cabinet must formulate a comprehensive plan with six objectives: returning our captives, dismantling Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, establishing a governmental alternative, returning northern residents by September 1, advancing normalization and adopting an Israeli [military] service framework.” (…)
Netanyahu answered Gantz’s statement, “He should pose ultimatums to Hamas, his words are thrown around,” to which Gantz retorted by saying, “If his war cabinet is important to him, he needs to take decisions and not drag his feet, fearing the extremists.”
Gaza: IDF eliminates top Hamas weapons smuggler
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday eliminated Hamas’s top weapons smuggler in an airstrike in Gaza.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) “struck and eliminated the terrorist Azmi Abu Daqqa, an operative in Hamas’ Procurement Department who was actively involved in the smuggling of weapons and terror funds in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a press release Sunday.
Over the past day, the IAF struck dozens of terror targets, including two tactical-level Hamas commanders who were preparing to attack IDF troops in the Rafah area,” the statement added.
The strike comes an Israeli military moves to destroy tunnels running between Gaza and Egypt, a main route for weapons supply to Hamas.
The IDF began its Rafah offensive on May 6 by capturing the strategic Philadelphi Route separating Gaza from Egypt. The military has since identified nearly 50 tunnels running between Gaza and Egypt. “These tunnels are used by Hamas to supply itself with weapons and ammunition and could potentially be used to smuggle out of Gaza hostages, or Hamas senior operators,” the senior Israeli official disclosed Friday.
A senior Hamas operative in the terror group's supply unit was killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip yesterday, the military says.
According to the IDF, Azmi Abu Daqqa was involved in smuggling weapons and funds for Hamas in Gaza.
He was killed in an airstrike following… pic.twitter.com/nod0sEI6vw
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 19, 2024
Meanwhile, there are reports of IDF continuing its counter-terrorism operation in Rafah and rest of Gaza. “The soldiers of the 7th Brigade combat team are operating and engaging in combat with terrorists in the area of Jabaliya,” the IDF said in a statement on Sunday. “The soldiers of Unit 636 and the Fire Control Center of the 7th Brigade are operating to identify armed terrorist cells and direct strikes to eliminate them, and conducting dozens of strikes to assist the forces operating on the ground.”
The Israeli ground troops were locating and destroying Hamas’ weapons cache and its terrorist capabilities. The soldiers have located large quantities of weapons, including explosives, anti-tank missiles, AK-47s, drones and grenades,” the military added. “As part of operations to harm Hamas’ launch capabilities, the forces located rocket launchers and a weapons production workshop.”
Two terrorists eliminated by the Israeli military in Jabalya. pic.twitter.com/QvHTCBh5B9
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) May 18, 2024
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Comments
A who done it.
Israelies, Iranian people, or maybe someone who wanted to take his place. If Raisi is dead it does not matter who did as long as he is burning in hell right now.
Gantz should be concentrating on wiping out Hamas and not kissing Biden’s ass.
Burn in hell ?
What about his 72 virgins?
72 Virgin Street is located in the fifth circle of Hades. Zip Code 666-66
He specifically asked that his virgins be hot.
He only gets 1 but on the positive side, it’s Helen Thomas.
I’m wondering about the “Iran is only weeks away from a nuke” thing. They have been a week away for a few decades now. Does time run differently in Iran?
No, just in Saudi Arabia.
(I’ve told this story before.)
I hope that they were severally injured in the crash, but still alive, followed by the chopper burning. I am thinking about all those babies and women they rapes and then burned alive. Karma
There are “hard landings” and then there are hard landings.
Hopefully, this one was “hard” enough.
I hope it didn’t hurt any animals or harm the environment.
No animals or Jews have been harmed in this landing.
It wouldn’t be the landing that killed him. It would be the sudden stop at the bottom.
Technically the landing is the sudden stop at the bottom.
Choppers do not fair well when they lose power, Thye usually drop like a rock.
Wait, they know that the helo had a ‘hard landing” but they supposedly don’t know the status of the president? How can you know one and not the other?
That doesn’t bode well for the psychopath.
Yeah it’s a double entendre.
It could mean a difficult landing or it could mean that it will be difficult to peel the soft organic tissue remainsaway from the hard ground at which karmic physics obliterated this collection of human garbage.
A crash locator beacon ought to have gone off. If they’re not hearing it, apparently indicated by their not finding the helicopter after 12 hours, it probably burned up with the rest of the helicopter.
They know where the crash site is. They’re stalling for time to mobilize forces to put down “unrest” after it’s announced.
Since 1979, the Iranians have been using bubble gum and bailing wire to keep their shitty air capabilities afloat.
What are the odds this chopper actually HAD a functioning locator beacon?
I’d say pretty damn low.
Will Kamala be sent to the funeral?
Nah. Joe will go. He was a big fan of the guy. Besides, all the other big name terrorists and terror supporters will be there. Joe can get their autographs.
Would it be unreasonable to do political cartoons depicting their end?
Reports of Iranians celebrating
Somewhat akin to the surviving residents of tokyo who turned their backs to emporer hiretho when he toured the ruins of tokyo shortly after the march 1945 firebombing. large swaths of the tokyo residents were suddenly done with the war.. Unfortunately the military wanted to continue even after Aug 9th.
the evil and radical ruling members of Iran want to continue the war against the west.
Of course Biden continues the appeasement started by obama, just strengthening the mullahs.
Remember, the Iranians have the same end goal as the Progressives: a utopia. You don’t let up when you think that’s imminently achievable.
Every comment here is pure conjecture, with no evidence and no facts.
I hope he died, but that’s just my personal opinion.
So, what’s the point of -your- comment?
Perhaps, but YOUR comment is pure bullshit.
As Hodge notes, what’s your point?
Forget answering… we already know.
He’s dead, you moron.
Jr
Of course is the man with the facts
There can be no other
I’m starting a Go Fund Me account to help find Raisis’ worthless ass. Who’s with me?!
Is someone being Raisis?
He’d be something if he teamed up with one of those “civilized” black people you admire so much.
We should not celebrate or wish for the death of a fellow human being.
Given that this guy was instead a monster, feel free to carry on everyone!!
I hope for the Iranian people that this murderer’s death will give some momentum to the resistance against their horror show “government.” May much better times be ahead for the people of Iran.
I’m not saying it was Mossad, but it was Mossad.
The leash is off. By alienating Israel, the Biden administration has put them in a position where they have nothing to lose.
By no means am I saying this is a good thing, but it’s not surprising at all.
There were three helicopters, but only one went down. It was just plain bad luck that the most important passengers happened to be on the one that crashed:
1. President Ebrahim Raisi
2. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian
3. East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati
4. Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, representative of Iranian Supreme Leader to East Azerbaijan
I guess the question is, which one of those four was actually a Mossad agent 🙂
Which helicopter maintenance crew was Mossad?
Not bad luck
IF there were 3 helos and IF the president survived, he would have been picked up immediately or at worst, rescued by now.
I don’t know his name, but his call sign is Special Agent FAFO.
lefty spin
israeli mechanics and trump supplying the parts
must have been
Yeah- it crashed.
FAFO. Finally.
Nice job Bibi.
Are we about to learn that Raisi found Hillary’s 30,000 emails and is also a Boeing whistleblower?
Personally, I hope and strongly speculate that the cause of the crash was simple incompetence on the part of the maintenance crew. I would imagine that to prevent sabotage, the particular one of three choppers used for the President and the others was randomly chosen from the three. This shell game gambit is pretty standard stuff.
If one flies a helo into a mountain in the fog, as has been hinted at, the pilot would be entirely at fault.
Since helos do not fly formation in IFR conditions there would be only one involved in the crash.
The pilot would be at fault if all of his gear was working correctly. When IFR, you rely on someone maintaining the instruments. And you check them before takeoff (as much as possible).
They can be broken in ways that you don’t discover until the rocks in the clouds aren’t where you thought they were.
I just got off work and they still haven’t got an update?
He’s dead, just figuring how to spin it
If he were alive, we would all know it cause ALLAH is Ggrrrreeat!
every. last. one.
Isn’t he just a figurehead anyways?
That’s what I thought. Isn’t the lunatic Khomeini the “Supreme Leader” with authority over the “president” of Iran? That’s what makes me think this is just an accident or mechanical malfunction of some kind and not a Mossad op . . . unless they are sending a message to Khomeini.
Don’t be so smug with the quotes on the word president. Look at our situation!
There is evidently a power struggle possible – the position is another place of power within Iran, but nominally controlled by the Supreme Leader. It could get interesting.
(Based on an article about the leadership situation in Iran. But I can’t find it again. 🙁 )
Under their current constitution if he is dead then Khamenei simply picks another one and they keep on truckin. No election involved.
https://www.meforum.org/65899/if-raisi-is-dead-implications-for-the-islamic
“Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi…”
“Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power in the Islamic Republic…”
Translation: Raisi is the Iranian Biden. Got it.
Off topic, but what a jerk
Too bad he wasn’t in that chopper
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1792231594801201289
That’s just weird. I have been reliably informed that foreign election interference is an impeachable offense.
Oh, wait, that’s only when someone does it to us.
Or, when it’s a Feckless R getting wrapped into it.
Or both.
Seriously, what, specifically is The Brandon Administration”s big alternative? Or that Israeli Minister most Sinister? I keep hearing degrade Hamas, remove their ability to make ware, peace in Gaza, demilitarize Gaza. How you gonna do that?
It sounds like the backseat drivers don’t much like the people in the mix are blowing them off.
You have to have a real election for there to be interference
Iran admits he is dead. Ayatollah will likely let VP take the post, then elections supposedly within 50 days with Ayatollah-chosen candidates.
Saw some Twitter scuttle that they are now being reported as dead.
He’s dead, Jim. Photographs show a burned out hull. Looks like they just flew into the mountain.
What the pilot screaming Alahhu achbar when it happened? If so, the irony is wonderful.
I wonder which story Joe will tell relating to this helicopter account.
Will it be the near-death experience of climbing the stairs of Delaware’s giant skyscraper to save women and children from a raging fire, or how Uncle Bosey flew helicopters across the Pacific Ocean before he was shot down to season the broth of a primitive community kettle? No joke, come on, man.
Lastly, will Joe reveal to his progressive followers that, with all seriousness, Joe was on this flight, threw Ebrahim Raisi over his shoulder, and tried to carry him to safety?
Surprisingly, Rambo appeared to help show Joe the safe way to the closest village, but the Seven-Eleven was closed along the way, so he couldn’t get any food, water, or ice cream to eat.
No joke! Serious. Ask Rambo, he was there with us.
Beau died in the wreck.
I’d like to say I care but I don’t. This will change nothing in Iran.
Maybe not. But it might provide a crack into which the water can flow and start something.