Iranian president's chief of staff reveals details of Raisi helicopter crash

Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, chief of staff for Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, has disclosed new details about the helicopter crash involving President Raisi. Esmaili, who was in a separate helicopter that landed safely, stated that weather conditions during the flight were normal.

"It was not fog. Perhaps there was fog deep in the gorge, but there was no fog on the trajectory of our flight. The clouds were slightly above the helicopter," he told IRNA. According to Esmaili, the pilot of President Raisi's helicopter instructed all helicopters in the convoy to fly above the clouds, which they did. About 30 seconds later, the crew of Esmaili's helicopter noticed the presidential helicopter was missing.

The pilot then made several circles trying to locate the missing helicopter or establish contact with its crew or passengers. For a minute and a half, contact could not be established, leading to the assumption that the Bell 212 had crashed. Eventually, Sayed Mohammad-Ali al-Hashem, the Imam of the Juma Mosque in Tabriz who was on board the missing helicopter, made contact and reported the crash. Contact was maintained with him for several hours before his death.

On May 19, President Raisi's helicopter went down. On the morning of May 20, the charred wreckage was found near the Iranian village of Tawil, with all passengers confirmed dead. Mourning has been declared in some of Iran's neighbouring countries.