Not to worry, the Russians are coming to save them! Live updates: Iran President Ebrahim Raisi in helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan Province; Hamas voices concern
He had a meeting at the border with the Azerbaijanis. Dam or something. Lots of pictures of it out there. Meantime, one of the drones supposedly found a heat signature high up on a mountain. Lots of picture of that out there to.
The occupants: "The IRGC-run media outlet, Sepah, reported the nine included: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian; Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati, Tabriz’s Friday prayer Imam Mohammad Ali Alehashem as well as a pilot, copilot, crew chief, head of security and another bodyguard." Live updates: Iran President Ebrahim Raisi in helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan Province; Hamas voices concern
if there is a heat source and fire burning I suspect everyone is dead 50 min ago Turkish drone identifies heat source in mountainous region of Iran's East Azerbaijan province From CNN's Artemis Moshtaghian and Yong Xiong A Turkish drone helping to search for the location where a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed has identified a heat source in the mountains of the country's East Azerbaijan province, according to Iranian state media and Turkish news agency Anadolu. The condition of those on board the helicopter is still unknown. A burning spot has been detected and rescue forces are being sent to that area known as Tavil, the country's semi-official FARS news agency reported. The Turkish drone identified the heat source and shares its coordinates with Iranian authorities, Anadolu reported.
There are many tweets out there of celebrating in Tehran. I tend to believe them knowing about the regime and the Tehran younger population, but have not seen it from a reliable source. So hard in Elon's Twitter. Take it FWIW
It's probably a Sunni mountain, one of a small minority in Iran. The helicopter hit the Sunni side up.
Live updates: Iran President Ebrahim Raisi in helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan Province; Hamas voices concern (cnn.com) "No survivors" were found at the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, Iranian state news agency IRINN and semi-official news agency Mehr News reported. Some background: A former hardline judiciary chief, Raisi was Iran’s eighth president. The former prosecutor and judge was elected in 2021 following a historically uncompetitive presidential contest. He oversaw a period of intensified repression of dissent, according to human rights monitors. Next in the line of succession would be First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, if approved by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran's Supreme Leader serves as the final arbiter of domestic and foreign affairs in the Islamic Republic, dwarfing the powers of the country's president.
It's now being reported that Iran believes the mountain was put there by Israel. No such mountain can be found on Iranian maps. "Leave it to the Mossad," says the Ayatollah, "to make a mountain out of a molehill."
Yeah I don't root for people to die. But a guy who murdered thousands of prisoners, treats women like chattel and funds terorrism? Kinda hard to feel overly sad. The question is what happens next. If Iran tries to blame Israel for their own incompetence things could get ugly quickly. I saw several Arch Duke Ferdinand references today online. A bit over the top, but the underlying point has merit, if Iran were to go after Israel everyone would have to choose sides. Side note, unconfirmed report of the head of the Iranian police being assassinated today too, but that could just be a rumor. If true though, it could indicate someone is trying to consolidate power after what happened. Which means the internal politics in Iran could get really messy too. Which isn’t necessarily good for the region either.
