The helicopter carrying 63-year-old Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials crashed on May 19 in a mountainous and forested area in East Azerbaijan province. All eight people who were in the helicopter died in the accident.
Iran’s security forces are “absolutely convinced that the incident was an accident,” Fars news agency reported Wednesday, citing a security source familiar with the investigation.
Iran’s military had already said in May that there was no evidence of criminal activity in connection with the crash.
“The case of Ayatollah Raisi’s helicopter crash has been completely closed by the regulatory and security authorities,” Fars reported.
“Security and intelligence agencies have completed their detailed investigations and it is absolutely clear that what happened was an accident,” Fars added.
The news agency cited bad weather and the helicopter’s inability to take off because it was carrying extra passengers that did not meet safety protocols as the main causes of the crash.
The investigation found that at the time of the helicopter crash, there were two more passengers than the recommended capacity of the aircraft allowed.
During the investigation, the possibility of “suppression and hacking of electronic systems” was ruled out, and “no signs of chemical and harmful substances were found”, Fars reported.
2024-08-23 06:05:28