Posted on 05/20/2024 1:20:14 AM PDT by Libloather
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed after a helicopter carrying him and other officials crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday.
Raisi, 63, was confirmed dead by Iranian media today along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati and Tabriz's Friday prayer Imam Mohammad Ali Alehashem.
Two pilots and three other Iranian officials and security guards also perished in the crash.
Grainy drone footage from Iranian and Turkish news agencies showed how the helicopter had smashed apart on landing, and an Iranian official said the search teams who located the wreckage found 'no sign of life'.
Footage shared by the Iranian Red Crescent later this morning showed solemn rescuers carrying corpses on covered stretchers as they made their way through the forest from the crash site.
The nation's government held an 'urgent meeting' this morning, with Raisi's chair left vacant and covered in a black sash.
According to Iran's constitution, a new presidential election will need to be called within 50 days.
But Raisi's death is sure to trigger a power struggle, with a variety of ambitious candidates now set to vie for power.
Images circulated on social media showed Iranian citizens taking to the streets in mourning in the hours following the announcement of the president's death.
Raisi, who became president of Iran in 2021, was widely seen as a vassal for the regime and a yes man to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
He stormed to the presidency with a huge majority following the 2021 elections - but less than half of Iran's electorate turned out to vote after many more moderate candidates were barred from running.
As a young student at a religious seminary in the holy city of Qom, Raisi took part in protests against the Western-backed Shah...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
They say he was “brutal” and was one of the young agitators in the abduction of the American hostages at the embassy in 1979. He plotted the deaths of Israelis and Americans.
Therefore, my big smile when I heard the news is justified.
I was thinking the same thing. They must get good signal up there in the mountains
They say he had been maneuvering to take over when the old Ayatollah kicks the bucket. As a “young” 63 he would have brought even worse hardline action for probably 15-20 years like the usual 80s plus Ayatollah ages.
He preached death to Americans and Jews.
The link is not the version posted above.
Try this again -
The Iranian citizens are celebrating by shooting off fireworks.
Allah Wahoo WHACKbar
Lots of Iranians yearning to be free. I wish them luck. Sure wish Trump was in charge of our country right now. Biden is sure to screw this up.
Biden, obama and Jarrett are them.
To whoever did this ….. THANK YOU!
Don’t think the “them” are Biden, Obama. Iran before Carter was secular and the regular folk have been revolting against the theocracy since that date. Was just thinking and the same ones who are protesting here at US colleges were very much like those who took over the US Embassy during Carter’s administration.
Shin Bet? What’s strange is that none of the news articles on this raise this possibility. Also, there is a rumor that the commandant of the national police was gunned down yesterday.
He got Prigozhin’ed.
And sometimes it’s because an idiot helicopter pilot flies into mountainous terrain with heavy fog. While I would like to believe Shin Beg had something to do with it…more than likely we got lucky.
I wonder if Biden and/or Hussain Obama plan to attend the funeral services...
He dead... went out like a rock musician.
When you think your invincible and can fly in a helicopter in hilly mountainous terrain using vfr in the fog, you are ignoring the common sense god gave you. I’m waiting on the conspiracy theories like Israeli F35’s, Ukrainian kamikaze drone, Taliban SAM, too heavily laden with Biden Cash, secret meeting with Hillary Clinton etc...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.