The helicopter crash that tragically claimed the life of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in May 2023 was caused by complex weather conditions, according to the final investigation report released by Iran’s state television on Sunday. The 63-year-old president and his entourage were traveling in a helicopter that crashed into a fog-shrouded mountainside in northern Iran. The crash resulted in the deaths of eight individuals, including the president, triggering snap elections.
The special board investigating the crash determined that the “complex climatic and atmospheric conditions of the region in the spring” were the primary factors contributing to the accident. The report stated that the helicopter collided with the mountain due to the “sudden emergence of a thick mass of dense and rising fog.”
In May, Iran’s army had already concluded that there was no evidence of criminal activity involved in the crash, which also killed Raisi’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. However, in August, the Fars news agency reported that bad weather conditions and the helicopter’s inability to ascend with two extra passengers, violating security protocols, were the main causes of the crash. The Iranian armed forces swiftly refuted this claim, stating that the information about additional passengers was completely false.
The final investigation report solidifies the role of severe weather as the primary cause of the tragic accident, providing clarity on the circumstances surrounding the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
