Preliminary findings from Iranian military investigators show no signs of foul play in the helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday, according to state media reports.
A crash report by the army says the aircraft “caught fire after hitting an elevated area,” and there were no signs “bullet holes” on the wreckage, the IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.
The report also stated that Raisi’s helicopter had been flying on a “pre-planned route and did not leave the designated flight path” before the crash on May 19, 2024.
“No suspicious content was observed during the communications between the watch tower and the flight crew,” the report said, adding that the final communication the president’s helicopter and two accompanying choppers was recorded about a minute and a half before the crash.
The army is expected to provide a detailed report after completing the investigation.
The Bell helicopter crashed as Raisi and his entourage returned home from a trip to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, where he and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, inaugurated a dam project.
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The accident triggered a quick military response, but the “complexity of the area, fog and low temperature” delayed the search and rescue teams who accessed the site more than 10 hours later.
The rescue team confirmed the death of Raisi alongside 7 other officials, including Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, later appointed Mohammad Mokhber as interim president following the death of Raisi, who was buried on Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad.
A presidential election is set for June 28.
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